Agenda
O'Malley Elementary School
Thursday, December 16, 2004
A PITCH TO END THE BALLFIELD BATTLE
There was a two year controversy over building ballfields in Far North Bicentennial Park. When the Park plan was modified to allow the ballfields, the Municipality agreed to add land to FNBP to "mitigate" the impact of building the ballfields.
Given the noise over the ballfields, it is surprising that the selection of mitigation land has been very quiet. A December 10 deadline was agreed to for identifying mitigation land. That's coming up quick. The ballfields have been built, it's time to make good on the rest of the deal.
There has recently been a proposal to transfer about 130 acres of land to the east of the Bragaw Extension. This land is surrounded by wetlands that have been proposed as mitigation land for the wetlands lost to the Bragaw Extension. The only access is through BLM land or crossing Campbell Creek from the north. Both are big barriers. This land is used as park land now and most people probably don't know that it is zoned to allow development of public facilities.
It would be nice to finish off the controversy over the ballfields before the first pitch is thrown. _______________________________________
HILLSIDE DISTRICT PLAN gets money and momentum! The recently approved MOA budget includes $100,000 to go towards the HDP. It appears that the plan will rely primarily on the active participation of those of us living up here with a MOA planner facilitating the work.
If the way our area is developed or not developed is important to you, remember that the outcome of meetings depends on who shows up. We will try to keep you posted on the dates and progress.
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THE LARGE ANIMAL ORDINANCE has been a frequent topic in our newsletters.
Regular readers should be ready to pass any pop quiz on this topic. The current
version is dated December 1, 2004. In summary:
Note that there's no mention of limitations on boarding horses. There are some who feel the limitation on the size limits on facilities for large animals is arbitrary: what if you want a small house and large barn?
There are some who feel the size of the number of animals should be limited by the impact they create, not by acreage. That could be dealt with by requiring a "Soil Conservation Plan" for the lot. The Planning Department feels these issues will be dealt with adequately by the existing health and Animal Control rules.
While there is still a lot of frustration on this issue, it has progressed a long way towards its goal in the year we've been watching it. There are a lot of smart and energetic people involved. It looks like the Planning Department is paying attention to their input.
The next meeting of the Large Domestic Animal Committee is December 16 at 5:30pm at the Permit Center on Bragaw. Main issues at this meeting will be the number of animals allowed and the size of accessory structures.
Two MHCC Board members are on the committee. Kim Ross is the Council's representative and John Jenkins is a "general public" member. Go check it out and then gallop over to our meeting at 7pm!
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PARKS PLAN UPDATE goes to the Planning and Zoning Commission on January 10. We had input on this plan through the results of an emailed survey we did in April of 2003. A summary of the results is on the Councils' website. Hit the "Issues" button and scroll down to the Parks Plan Update section.
According to MOA planner Thede Tobish, we can expect an updated draft just in time for our December meeting. Mr. Tobish wrote "this new draft is not substantially different from the spring 2004 version--mostly edits, corrections, clarifying statements, etc.--no changes to policies, standards or goals."
The study's heavy emphasis on comparisons with "benchmark" cities and their parks drags the report towards a bias for developed parks and recreational buildings and the huge costs that come with them.
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TITLE 21 (ZONING LAWS) REWRITE The Anchorage Citizens Coalition has submitted Module 3 consensus statements and individual comments gathered during the Title 21 Rewrite, Citizen Participation Project. See:
http://www.muni.org/planning/prj_T21_Mod3_pubcom.cfm
Plowing through Title 21 can be tough going. Module 3 deals with design standards: what subdivisions, homes, stores, roads and more will look like. Might be good. Might drive us crazy. None of us will escape its impact.
The Planning Department will accept public comment on Module 3 until January 21, 2005.
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AN ASSISTED LIVING ORDINANCE will also be considered at the Planning
& Zoning Commission on January 10. This is a whopper of a ordinance with
lots of implications for neighborhoods.
If we are lucky enough to live until we are old and feeble, it would be nice to have lots of choices on where we can live with a little help. But some people don't want assisted living homes in their neighborhoods. Most of our area is zoned for "single family residential." Assisted Living homes don't quite fit that definition.
At last reading, this ordinance had a line restricting assisted living homes to streets built to "Urban Standards." That basically means streets that have curb and gutter: a rarity in our area.
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ROAD DISCOVERED AT GREENBROOK SUBDIVISION! The "short plat" discussed in last month's newsletter was revised to show the existing road by providing for a "public access easement."
This allows the homeowners' association to continue to maintain the road that was previously not on the plat. It also may allow the developer to build using setbacks from the property line rather than the more restrictive easement line.
This seemed to work itself out well, partly due to the homeowners being well organized. The only glitch was the lack of notice to the neighborhood earlier in the process.
The replat goes to the Planning & Zoning Commission Dec. 27.
Mid-HillsideBoard Members
John Weddleton -President 349-8370 john@weddleton.com
Brian Johnson -Vice President 345-5883 brian.johnson2@akanch.ang.af.mil
Tom O'Grady -Secretary 345-6948 ogrady@gci.net
Linda Perkins -Treasurer 346-2558 miniaturehorses@alaska.com
Kim Ross -Registrar 344-0333 kimross@alaska.com
John Jenkins 240-8609
Shirley McGrath 345-1606 smcgrath@alaska.net
Mark Miner 336-2383 akminers@alaska.net
Lance Powell 346-2327 lwpowell1@juno.com
Hillside East Board Members
Tom Newins, President 345-8881 newins@gci.net
Bjarne Holm, Vice President robinholm@ak.net
Our next meeting is Thursday December 16.
We meet at 7pm on the third Thursday of the month at O'Malley Elementary School on Rockridge off O'Malley. For more info see www.communitycouncils.org/hillmid.html