Mid Hillside Anchorage Community Council Huffman Gate

Huffman Gate

The neighborhood on Huffman on the downhill side of Hillside is very nice. Spacious houses on large lots. Views of the mountains and the city below. And nagging problems with illegal dumping and underage parties!

WHERE: Generally the corner of Audubon and Huffman Rd (West of Hillside Drive)
PROBLEM: Huffman Road, downhill from Hillside Drive, ends at a protected wetland area. This road's end is undeveloped and makes an attractive spot for parties, bonfires and dumping of trash. A well for a nearby neighborhood is in this area and has been vandalized. There is a concern that batteries dumped there threaten the water quality.
SOLUTION: A gate across Huffman Road just west of Audubon and a wall or other obstruction across the utility ROW on the south side of the road.
SUPPORT: City manager Harry Kieling investigated this problem and supports the installation of a gate. The Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils passed a resolution of support on September 17, 2002.
COST: The cost for a gate installed would be as high as $6,000. The neighborhood has resources to install a gate. That could cut the costs to as low as $2,000.

WHERE
To get oriented, take a look at the map below. The thick line going up and down is Hillside Drive. The horizontal line in the middle is Huffman. If you are driving up Hillside on this map, take a left on Huffman. That sends you down a bumpy dirt road. You pass Rockridge on your right, then Freitag on your left. Just after you pass Audubon on your right, you get into the problem area. On this map, it looks like a road goes off to the left after Audubon. That leads to the well for the neighborhood of Freitag. It is not really a road and is blocked by a gate.

Here's a quick tour with pictures taken October 19, 2002.

The intersection of Audubon and Huffman is just down the hill from Hillside Drive. Downhill from this intersection is undeveloped wetlands. These wetlands split this part of Huffman Rd from the west side that goes down to the Old Seward Highway.

This view is to the south standing on Huffman. The curve to the right is Audubon.

This is the view from the end of the road onto Mr. Mucha's property. It goes downhill slightly. About where this ends, it curves to the right onto Huffman.

This is a view down the ROW from the curve to Mr. Mucha's property. It's a bog.

The image below is a crudely stitched together panorama of the road looking west. The end of the road where it curves to the left leads to Mr. Mucha's property.

The area to the right is wet and muddy.

THE PROBLEM

The trash in the area was cleaned up in two efforts before these pictures were taken.

Bags in the creek that flows along Huffman.

This pile is next to the end of Yarro Mucha's road.

Hey! This is lots easier and cheaper than the waste Transfer Station! Close to home, easy access and no one can see you!

Bad phone connection anyone? Call for help?

The neighborhood off of Freitag, the south side of Huffman shares this well. There are concerns that that the batteries and oil dumped here will hurt their well water.

SOLUTION

Gates are a common and successful solution ward off dumping, trespass and vandalism. A similar problem at the Huffman trailhead to Chugach park off of Upper Huffman was solved with a gate preventing access to the trailhead.

Virtually every park and school in Anchorage uses gates to stop problems with vandalism, dumping and parties.

This is a shot of a gate to the shared well for the subdivision off Freitag. This is a pretty solid gate. This style would probably be able to block traffic onto Huffman West of Audubon.

SUPPORT

This neighborhood has been active in working together to keep the neighborhood safe. It is not possible to monitor the area all the time. Dumping and kids parties are difficult for even attentive neighbors to stop.

Resolution of the Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils in support of the installation of a gate on Huffman Road near Audubon Drive to help prevent vandalism.
September 19, 2002

By unanimous consent:

The Mid-Hillside and Hillside East Community Councils declare the general vicinity around the intersection of Huffman Road and Audubon Drive, including the right of way to the west of the intersection, to be a public nuisance area. This is a public health and safety issue.

The area is the site of documented rampant and illegal commercial and household waste; vandalism; trespassing; underage alcohol and drug consumption and off road driving.

The Community Councils request that the Municipality work, in due haste, with area residents to permanently gate the right of way prior to snow fall. The solution would extend to the utility right of way via cement construction barriers so that the gate's integrity would be protected.

The regular combined meeting of the Community Councils on September 19, 2002 was advertised through the monthly newsletter, in the Anchorage Daily News and through flyers distributed in some neighborhoods.

Original Message-----
From: Urbanus, Jeffrey D. [mailto:UrbanusJD@ci.anchorage.ak.us]
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 5:41 PM
To: Jeff Clarke
Subject: ROW Problems on Audubon/Huffman

Jeff,

We spoke last week about my meeting with the Municipal Manager, Harry Kieling, in your neighborhood to discuss problems you and your neighbors have experienced with juvenile mischief, illegal dumping, unattended fires, etc. At that time you informed me of your Community Council meeting on Thursday the 19th. I offered to Cc. you a copy of the letter I will be sending to Harry Kieling outlining what I view to be the problems and possible solutions. I will not be able to complete that correspondence before tomorrow's meeting but thought I would offer this message, describing the meeting and present status of the case, in its place.

Last Thursday I met with Harry Kieling at the Huffman Right of Way in the vicinity of 6510 Huffman. Evidence of the problems we have discussed in the past was immediately apparent. Yard and household waste was scattered along the road. We observed damage to utility boxes, damage to the soil and vegetation from vehicle travel, and charcoal from past bonfires. Particularly offensive were the bones from fish carcasses that were dumped there in the past. Harry's reaction was, in short, disgust.

At the meeting, the root of the problem was abundantly clear. The problems results from the present status of the Huffman Right of Way. If it were an improved roadway or had no access, it would not be an attractive location for illegal dumping or juveniles in search of a hang out spot. My suggestion to Harry will be that a gate is installed at the corner of Audubon and Huffman. Its seems easy enough to do this in such a way that utility companies, property owners, and the fire department can still can access the ROW when needed.

To me, the interests and resources of you and neighbors, the owner of the vacant property, and the Municipality should allow for quick resolution of the problem with the Municipal Manager's involvement. I have recently become aware of a possible solution in the interim before illegal access to the ROW can be blocked off. The Municipality has received grant money for blight removal in and along Public Right of Ways. The work is performed by Community Work Service volunteers. I would suggest you our any of your neighbors call Street Maintenance at 343-8277 to report the trash and request that it is removed as part of the blight removal grant.

I would be happy to continue to help in any way that I can.

Jeff Jeffrey D. Urbanus
Environmental Specialist Environmental Quality Program
825 "L" Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
(P) 343-4759 (F) 249-7875

COST:

A quick estimate, based on calls to companies in Anchorage that make and install substantial gates suggests that installation of a suitable gate would cost about $6,000.

The neighborhood has the resources to do much of the work so the cost could be as low as $2,000.