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ANCHORAGE, ALASKA · AREA PLAN GIRDWOOD INTRODUCTION

Girdwood Area Plan, Chapter 1: Cover, TOC, Introduction

11 pages
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Anchorage, Alaska
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area plan girdwood introduction
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2026-08-25
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Pages 1–11
Page 1

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Girdwood

AREA PLAN

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MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE

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Girdwood

AREA PLAN

ADOPTED FEBRUARY 28, 1995 (ASSEMBLY ORDINANCE 94-238 S)

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PREPARED BY THE PHYSICAL PLANNING DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE RICK MYSTROM, MAYOR

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Municipal Assembly

Pat Abney
Mark Begich
Bob Bell
Craig Campbell
Cheryl Clementson
Bill Faulkner
Dan Kendall
Kevin Meyer
Charles Wohlforth
Joe Murdy
Richard Traini, Chair

Planning & Zoning Commission

James Crawford
Jack Gwaltney
Arthur Jacobs
Fate V. Putman
William Reeves
Brian Shute
Tim Spernak
Priscilla Wohl
Robert B. Stiles, Chair

Girdwood Board of Supervisors

Rusty Kendall
George McCoy
Bill Schwartz
Keith Tryck
John Trautner, Chair

Community Advisory Board

Girdwood Board of Supervisors
Tom Yeager
Diane Powers
Tim Bennett
Bill Schwartz

Municipal Assembly
Pat Abney
Jim Barnett (to May, 1993)

Parks and Recreation Commission
James Pefanis
Ken Wardwell (to March, 1993)

Planning & Zoning Commission
Bill Reeves
Joe Murdy (to May, 1993)

Heritage Land Bank Advisory Commission
Barbara Granger
Gary McCarthy

Municipality of Anchorage -- at large
Lana Johnson

Heritage Land Bank
Paul Baer

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Photographic and Architectural Rendering Credits

The photographs and architectural rendering used in this Plan were derived from the sources listed on this page. Abbreviations are as follows:

ADCP&D: Anchorage Department of Community Planning & Development ADNR: Alaska Department of Natural Resources AMHA: Anchorage Museum of History & Art ASI: Alaska Stock Images

Cover Title Page: (skiers) Allen Prier, ASI, and (family) Jeff Schultz, ASI; Inside Title Page: (children’s parade) Marsha Crockett, (tram) Alyeska Resort, (boardwalk) Alaska Division of Tourism, (skiers) Clark Mishler, ASI; Chapter One Divider, AMHA; pp. 1 and 2, Ed Fogels, ADNR; Chapter Two Divider, AMHA; p.5, ADCP&D; p. 10, Alyeska Resort; Chapter Three Divider, AMHA; pp. 11, 12 and 19, ADCP&D; Chapter Four Divider, AMHA; p.23, Alaska Division of Tourism; Chapter Five Divider, Cynthia Toohey; p. 33, Bob Nelson; Chapter Six Divider, AMHA; p. 37, ADCP&D; Chapter Seven Divider, AMHA; p. 43, Cynthia Toohey; Chapter Eight Divider, AMHA; pp. 63, 64, and 68, ADCP&D; p. 70, Marsha Crockett; p. 73, Bob Nelson; Chapter Nine Divider, Alyeska Resort; p. 81, ADCP&D; Chapter Ten Divider, Cash Barner Architects; p. 93, ADCP&D; Appendix Divider, Cynthia Toohey.

Acknowledgements

Numerous individuals contributed to the development of the Girdwood Area Plan. In particular, I would like to give credit to the members of the Community Advisory Board, as well as the many Girdwood residents and property owners who gave much of their time to attend numerous and varied public forums where they shared their knowledge and ideas about the area and its future.

The Plan was produced with the help of a number of Planning staff members who deserve recognition for their contributions. They include:

Gillian Smythe (research, writing, and editing); Sue Perry (typesetting, editing); Phil Manke (mapping/graphics); and Fred Carpenter (mapping/graphics).

I also wish to express my appreciation to Ed Fogels with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Land. Ed was Project Manager for the State’s Turnagain Arm Management Plan. These two Plans were developed together under the auspices of a formal Memorandum of Agreement between the State and Municipality. Ed and the Division of Land staff were very supportive, cooperative and amiable, which helped to make the State/Municipal planning process a very successful joint venture.

Finally, recognition should be given to professional consultants who made very useful contributions during the course of the planning process and production of this document. They are Ted Beeler, Sno.engineering, Inc.; Doug Fesler and Jill Fredston, Alaska Mountain Safety Center, Inc.; Arthur I. Mears, with Arthur I. Mears, P.E., Inc.; Kevin Waring, with Kevin Waring Associates; Tom Brigham, Transport/Pacific Associates; Don Vogan, with F. Don Vogan, ASLA; Duane Hippe, HDR Engineering, Inc.; and Chris Hitchcock, Classic Design and Typography.

Tom Nelson, Project Manager

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Table of Contents

Page
Chapter 1.Introduction ..................................................... 1
Plan Development Process ........................................... 2
Chapter 2.Location and History ............................................. 5
Location .......................................................... 5
History ........................................................... 6
Chapter 3.Natural Environment .............................................. 11
Landform and Geology .............................................. 11
Soils ............................................................. 12
Climate ........................................................... 13
Hydrology ......................................................... 15
Wetlands .......................................................... 16
Vegetation ........................................................ 17
Fish and Wildlife ................................................. 18
Minerals .......................................................... 19
Natural Hazards.................................................... 20
Chapter 4.Population, Employment, and Housing ............................. 23
Population......................................................... 23
Employment ........................................................ 25
Housing ........................................................... 28
Projections for Employment, Population, and Housing ................. 29
Chapter 5.Community Attitudes and Aspirations ............................... 33
Chapter 6.Current Land Use Pattern, Ownership, and Suitability .............. 37
Existing Land Use Pattern ......................................... 37
Land Ownership .................................................... 40
Land Suitability .................................................. 41
Chapter 7.Land Use Plan .................................................. 43
General Land Use Themes ........................................... 43
Land Use Plan...................................................... 45
Chapter 8.Public Facility Plan ............................................. 63
Administrative Building ........................................... 63
Cultural Facilities................................................ 64
Public Safety Functions............................................ 65
Health Services.................................................... 67
Education ......................................................... 68
Parks and Recreation............................................... 69
Utilities ......................................................... 74
Chapter 9.Transportation Plan .............................................. 81
Roadways .......................................................... 82
Girdwood Airport .................................................. 89
Railroad .......................................................... 90
Chapter 10.Implementation ................................................... 93
Zoning ............................................................ 93
Subdivision Regulations ........................................... 95
Public Land Disposals.............................................. 95
Capital Facilities Programming .................................... 97
Functional Plans................................................... 97
Other ............................................................. 99
Plan Review Process ............................................... 100
Appendix............................................................. 101
Girdwood Area Survey .............................................. 101
Girdwood Vision Consensus Building Forum Summary .................. 110
Selected List of References ....................................... 120
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Figures

Page
Figure 1Plan Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 2Population Distribution by Age and Sex Girdwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Figure 3Population Distribution by Age and Sex Anchorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Figure 4Seasonal Wage Employment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Figure 5Quarterly Employment by Major Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Figure 6Seward Highway Traffic Annual Average Daily Traffic at Potter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Figure 7Seward Highway Traffic at Girdwood Weekend Vehicles Per Day, 1992. . . . . . . . . . . 82
Figure 8Girdwood Valley Roads, Average Weekend Day Traffic Levels, 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Maps

After Page
Map 1Vicinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Map 2Wetland Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Map 3100 Year Floodplain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Map 4Snow Avalanche Hazard Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Map 51990 Census Block Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Map 6Girdwood Area Air Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Map 7Existing Land Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Map 8Current Land Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Map 9Community Development Suitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Map 10Land Use Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Map 11Land Use Plan (Lower Valley Enlargement) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Map 12Existing Public Sewer and Water Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Map 13Transportation Plan, Proposed Roadways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
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Tables

Page
Table 1Historic Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 2Average Annual Full-time Employment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Table 3Household Income Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Table 4Housing Occupancy Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 5Vacant Housing Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table 6Projections for Employment, Population, and Housing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Table 7Housing Projections by Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Table 8Existing Land Use and Vacant Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 9Housing Densities and Residential Development Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Table 10School Enrollment 1979/80 to 1993/94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Table 11Analysis of Elementary Space Requirements (K-8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Table 12Implementation Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Table 13Main Affiliation in the Girdwood Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Table 14Place of Employment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Table 15Main Occupation of Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Table 16Most Liked Feature of Girdwood Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Table 17Most Important Problem of the Girdwood Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Table 18Opinions About future Resort Expansion Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Table 19Reasons for Favorable Resort Development Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Table 20Reasons for Unfavorable Resord Development Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Table 21Reasons for Mixed Resort Development Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Table 22Resort Information Seminar Attendance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Table 23Gender of Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Table 24Age of Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
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Chapter 1

Introduction

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CHRIS SPILLUM WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO DISCOVER GOLD AT CROW CREEK ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. THE DISCOVERY LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GIRDWOOD AS A SUPPLY AND TRANSPORT CENTER FOR MINING ACTIVITY IN THE AREA.

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⬚ figure Skiers on the Glacier/Winner Creek massif looking southwest toward Girdwood and Turnagain Arm.

T he Girdwood Area Plan has been prepared to provide community residents and public officials with a policy document to guide decisions regarding the future use of lands in the valley of Glacier Creek and its tributaries.1 As a policy document, it is intended to outline general strategies for land development and the installation of major public facilities and services, such as water, sewer, transportation, parks, and trails. It also provides basic strategies for disposal of municipal land, as well as the conservation and protection of certain natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas.

The Girdwood Area Plan is a revision of the Turnagain Arm Comprehensive Plan. The Turnagain Arm Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1987 as a policy guide for development in all the settlement areas along Turnagain Arm from Rainbow to Portage. This Plan supersedes the 1987 plan only in regard to the Girdwood valley.

The primary impetus for the development of this Plan is the transfer of major land holdings in the upper valleys of Glacier Creek and its two tributaries, Crow and Winner Creeks, from the U.S. Forest Service to the State of Alaska and the Municipality of Anchorage. Accompanying this land transfer is an increased interest in additional major destination resort development.

Previous investigations by the U.S. Forest Service and the Municipality indicated that the Glacier-Winner Creek area has attractive characteristics for new resort/recreational development. This was confirmed in a more recent study undertaken by Sno.engineering, Inc., for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

The Girdwood Area Plan is an integrated land use plan that encompasses both the upper and lower portions of the valley. The central issues that the Plan addresses are community growth, resort development, and retention of open spaces. Presently, Girdwood is a small mountain resort community with an economy heavily based on tourism and recreation. The community will continue to grow over the next several years as a result of resort/recreational expansion.

Girdwood will also continue to grow as a result of its closer proximity to Anchorage in commuting time as transportation improvements are made along Turnagain Arm, and employment centers expand in South Anchorage.

Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Footnotes

  1. Also referred to as Girdwood valley or Girdwood area. ↩

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Key elements in ensuring that community change is beneficial and new resort development is compatible will be transportation and circulation patterns, and the retention of important natural open spaces. This Plan does not attempt to debate whether Girdwood should develop further, but instead focuses on where to build, how much, and how to build well.

The Plan focuses on the physical development patterns of the Girdwood valley. It is intended to deal with conditions and events expected to occur during the next 20 years, and attendant resulting needs or demands for public facilities and services. This length of time is the usual limit of demographic and economic forecasting, and also corresponds to the time period used in the design of most major public facilities.

The Plan is based upon a given set of community aspirations, economic and demographic trends and projections, and environmental features. In the future, some of these factors may change. For that reason, planning should be viewed as a continuing process.

The direction outlined in this Plan for community and resort development is based upon information available at this particular time. In the future, new developments may occur and the needs of the community may change. Consequently, the Plan should be reviewed periodically and, if appropriate, revised in the future in response to new conditions.

Plan Development Process

The State of Alaska and the Municipality of Anchorage are in the process of acquiring additional lands in the upper valley of Glacier Creek above Girdwood. The State, as part of its National Forest Community Grant land selections, has selected approximately 23,000 acres from Chugach National Forest in this area. More than 7,000 acres have already been transferred to state ownership. The Municipality of Anchorage is eligible to receive 1,000 acres of land from the State as part of its municipal entitlement.

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Upper portion of Girdwood valley and mountain headwall.

Because of the need to establish compatible and complementary management plans and policies between the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the Municipality, the development of the Girdwood Area Plan was undertaken as part of a jointly coordinated planning effort between the two governments. As such, the State's Turnagain Arm Management Plan should be viewed as a companion document which identifies the management policies for state lands.

The development of these plans evolved through a series of activities shown in Figure 1. Throughout the planning process, much data gathering and sharing of information took place among local residents, federal, state and municipal officials, professional consultants, and other interested parties. Through surveys, workshops, and public meetings, people expressed their individual and collective concerns about how future development should and should not occur in the Girdwood area.

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As part of the planning process, the potential for future tourism/resort/recreational development as the main economic force in the valley was analyzed, as were the resulting implications for employment, population, and housing demand. Subsequent analyses identified and evaluated various future land use development patterns, taking into consideration the current land use configuration, environmental constraints, and existing public infrastructure. The land use alternatives were also based upon varying levels of resort activity and region-wide growth.

Following extensive public review and comment on the land use alternatives and their related impacts, a citizen advisory board provided additional guidance in the final preparation of this Plan and the State's Turnagain Arm Management Plan.

This Plan is based on the assumptions that the resident population of Girdwood will continue to grow, that the primary economic base will continue to be the tourism/resort/recreational industry, and that resort/recreational facilities will eventually expand to the upper valley area. The Plan recognizes the need for additional year-round recreational activities and general commercial space to support residential growth.

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Environmental/open space recommendations are included in the Plan to acknowledge both the physical limitations imposed upon development in the Girdwood valley, as well as the importance of the preservation of natural spaces to the economic success and livability of this mountain resort community.

The Plan recognizes the importance of ensuring that a proper facility support system is expanded in order to maintain the expected development patterns and community/resort activities. And finally, implementation measures are identified, and the relationships between this Plan and other municipal plans are described.

Key implementation measures noted in the Plan include revisions to the current land use regulatory system in place in Girdwood, policies and practices concerning the disposal of municipal lands, and development and use of the Request for Proposals (RFP) process to attract new resort/recreational development.

Included at the end of this document is an Appendix which contains the Girdwood Community Survey, a summary of the results of the Girdwood Community Vision Forum (a consensus-building workshop sponsored by the Four Valleys Community School held in conjunction with this planning process), and a selective list of references.

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