Point MacKenzie land conservation mulled

May 8, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Looking 20 years into the future and imagining that vehicles will be driving across the Knik Arm Bridge by 2010, participants in a brainstorming session Wednesday asked themselves which lands would be safeguarded from development.

Tom Brigham, senior transportation planner with HDR Alaska Inc., led a discussion to address potential residential development patterns and resulting road-improvement needs. The group gathered at the Mat-Su Borough administration building in Palmer.

"Farms that have high viewshed will be targeted first for conservation," said Brigham. A viewshed is defined as a place that offers aesthetically pleasing scenery.

Participants agreed that Goose Bay State Game Refuge would remain intact, and that there's no potential for growth on a state refuge.

On the Anchorage side, Fort Richardson owns some desirable lands appropriate for building more homes. Brigham doubted that any pressure from future growth would be strong enough to make the military base sell its lands.

The protection of wetlands could be questionable, given that Anchorage has been filling in and building on its wetlands to accommodate its growth needs.

The borough Assembly took a forward-thinking approach during its regularly scheduled meeting April 5, when its members unanimously passed an ordinance setting aside 11,000 acres as a wetlands bank and public recreational sites, according to Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Jody Simpson, who represents Big Lake.

The ordinance prohibits development in areas around Delyndia Lake, Diamond Lake, Seven Mile Lake and Carpenter Lake. Not only will these lands be protected, but the wetlands bank could provide a revenue stream for the borough, according to Simpson.

For example, if someone in Meadow Lakes had received permits from the U.S. Corps of Engineers and planned to construct on wetlands on their property, they could be required to "replace" that wetlands by "purchasing" lands from the borough's bank of wetland, she explained. The borough would still retain the lands.

"We want to be able to keep our wetlands. They serve a purpose," Simpson said.

"The Iron Dog and the Crooked Lake Trail runs a loop system from Big Lake out to Flathorn Lake. Those trail systems have been legally preserved," she said.

Under the ordinance, the Fish Creek agricultural land-use area will have a dual classification of wetlands and agricultural lands.

Eight thousand acres of borough land - just beyond Port MacKenzie - have been zoned for industry that would use the dock for exporting products such as gypsum, wood chips, coal or even natural gas. So, the construction of high-cost homes on half-acre or smaller lots would happen beyond that industrial zone.

"Without a bridge, there would not be much growth at Point MacKenzie," Brigham said.

With a Knik Arm Crossing, the borough may sell to developers any land that's suitable for building, Brigham said. The borough or the Alaska Mental Health Trust, which holds the deed for a large parcel northwest of Port MacKenzie, could be approached by developers wanting to build an airport when the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport becomes too busy to handle the air traffic.

Residents who are concerned that the Valley will lose its rural flavor are assured that even with a doubled population, there will still be big lots for the taking in outlying areas, according to Darcie K. Salmon, a real estate agent who serves as vice chair with the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority.

Outside the community of Sutton, there's property available with a taste of the backcountry, Salmon said.

Other areas that will remain removed from major population include Willow, Talkeetna, Chase up to Cantwell and Montana Creek, said Salmon.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.