Changes in development plans for lots of areas around town is on the Juneau Assembly’s agenda Monday night, with votes possible on three rezonings on North Douglas Island, three rezonings in the vicinity of Auke Bay and updating the city’s comprehensive plan by adopting a new Blueprint Downtown area plan.
All of the rezonings being considered Monday would increase development allowed on the lots involved, most of which range in size from 28 to 87 acres. The exception is a six-acre parcel of Pederson Hill, an area where housing development has been a multiyear and multistage process.
The City and Borough of Juneau is the applicant for the changes as part of a citywide effort to make additional land available to developers to be determined for projects yet to be proposed.
Blueprint Downtown covers virtually every parcel of land and every aspect of life in a 613-acre section of downtown, with lists of recommendation actions in chapters focusing on subjects such as land use, tourism, recreation and transportation. It also addresses assumptions about future development, such as the building of another cruise ship dock.
Increasing available housing is the dominant reason cited by city leaders seeking the changes, due to an ongoing acute shortage of residences. Officials say the need is likely to increase during the coming years with the homeporting of an icebreaker that may bring 600 people to town and the increasing threat of glacial outburst floods in the Mendenhall Valley.
The intent of the city’s comprehensive plan “supports rezoning…to accommodate Assembly housing development priorities including, but not limited to, housing for staff of the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker MV Aiviq and concerns about residences in the path of Mendenhall River flooding,” one of the proposed rezoning ordinances states.
Other proposed ordinances contain similar language about the need for housing and proposed rezonings being compatible with surrounding land use.
Public testimony will be allowed on ordinances involving all seven agenda items, with City Manager Katie Koester recommending the Assembly then pass the ordinances.
Each of the rezoning ordinances is somewhat bureaucratic in wording with references to zoning designations such as D3 and D18, but the rule of thumb is higher numbers reflect higher allowable development/density levels. A rezoning in North Douglas using those two designations notes the area is currently D3 — and allows medium-density housing ranging from five to 20 units per acre — and changing it to D18 will allow high-density multifamily units.
Anticipating big changes for North Douglas
The three rezoning ordinances involving a total of nearly 200 acres in North Douglas are relatively small early steps toward possible wholesale changes in the area resulting from a second bridge linking the island to Juneau, a gondola at Eaglecrest Ski Area that could lure more than 100,000 visitors during the cruise ship season and a proposed private two-ship cruise port on Goldbelt Inc. land that could redirect a large percentage of cruise tourism activities away from downtown Juneau.
For now the rezonings are simply to pave the way, so to speak, for housing and other projects developers may propose as the area’s future develops, Dan Bleidorn, lands and resources manager for the City and Borough of Juneau, said during a Planning Commission meeting in October when members voted to forward the proposals to the Assembly.
“There’s a lot of unknowns here that will be worked on in the future,” he said. “There’s no definitive plans for development of these properties.”
Concerns were voiced by residents and some commission members during that meeting about the overall impacts to the area, as well as to specific lots considered more environmentally sensitive.
“In the worst-case scenario for Douglas Highway we could be looking at over 6,000 residents out there and probably nearly as many cars that would be added to the road,” Gary Gillette, a North Douglas resident and former port engineer for the city, said while testifying against one of the rezoning applications at that meeting. “The roadway is currently at or above capacity, and it doesn’t feature a separated bike lane or sidewalks.”
The commission recommended three rezonings and rejected one sought by the city. The approved ones the Assembly are scheduled to consider Monday are:
• A total of 39 acres of CBJ land south of Grant Creek (about half a mile north of the Douglas Bridge) along North Douglas Highway to zoning district D18 instead of D3.
• About 87 acres of undeveloped land between Grant Creek and Eagle Creek on North Douglas Highway to D15 instead of D3. An applicant memo notes the “rezone is consistent with the adjacent zoning district.”
• A total of 66 acres uphill of 6101-6615 North Douglas Highway to D3 instead of RR (rural reserve), allowing one to three residences per acre. “The proposed rezone is consistent with neighboring areas of Medium Density Residential in Bonnie Brae Subdivision,” the ordinance states.
Rejected by the commission was rezoning about 77 acres in the vicinity of Fish Creek on North Douglas Highway to D3 instead of RR, due to concerns about the area’s popularity with outdoors enthusiasts as well as the wildlife in the area.
Expanding availability in Auke Bay
The three proposed zoning changes in or near Auke Bay were less controversial during Planning Commission discussion. They cover a total of about 67 acres in areas a few miles apart.
The most intensive development proposal involves a total of 28 acres on three lots uphill of 11900 through 12170 Glacier Highway, with most of the area rezoned to D15 instead of D3 for housing purposes. One of the lots would be rezoned to allow relocation of the Spaulding Meadows Trail parking lot and trailhead development.
The other proposed ordinances for the northern part of Juneau are:
• Rezoning about 33 acres at 15700 Auke Rec Bypass Road, north of 15700 Glacier Highway, to D3 instead of RR.
• Rezoning about six acres on Pederson Hill at the end of Karl Reishus Boulevard to D10 instead of D10SF a relatively minor change in land-use status which “would make the parcels consistent with the surrounding areas and allow for multi-family development, with a conditional use permit for major development,” according to the ordinance.
Blueprint Downtown
The proposed blueprint for downtown Juneau has been in the works since 2018, with the Planning Commission last April approving a draft that was turned over to the Assembly for consideration and approval.
“The Commission added a recommendation to encourage a stronger focus on housing with preference language for projects involving housing downtown,” Koester notes in a memo to the Assembly.
Subsequent discussion by Assembly committees also resulted in the plan being considered as an ordinance that’s more permanent and formal rather than a resolution declaring goals and intent.
The blueprint covers the area from the Rock Dump about a mile south of the Goldbelt Tram to just past the two downtown harbors on Egan Drive, an extension both further south and north than previous studies of what’s considered downtown Juneau, according to the document. More than 100 actions are recommended in the plan, with the following five listed as the top priorities:
• Provide an adequate supply of various housing types and sizes to accommodate present and future housing needs for all economic and age groups.
• Establish an integrated tourism management program.
• Stimulate year-round business vitality and reduce vacant storefronts.
• Fund and staff a dedicated entity to advocate for downtown Juneau, be a positive and energetic source for the long-term revitalization of downtown and launch Main Street, or similar program.
• Complete the Seawalk and Harborwalk.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
