An amendment introduced by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski into a recent federal defense spending bill would allow the city of Anchorage to keep leasing a park in Mountain View from the military for free, an arrangement that appeared to be in jeopardy earlier this year.
The city started leasing Davis Park — 78 acres of trails and athletic fields in one of the city's poorest urban neighborhoods — for nothing in the 1970s. Murkowski's amendment creates an exception to a law, not reflected in the city's original lease, that requires the Air Force to charge fair-market rent on leased properties.
One estimate said fair-market rent lease could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, more than the city could afford.
[Related: After decades of free rent, JBER and Anchorage look for solution to Davis Park dilemma.]
Murkowski spokeswoman Karina Petersen said the amendment would allow the Air Force to renew the existing Davis Park lease with the city for a period of 25 years. A copy of the legislation also creates an exception for Lion's Park, which is operated by the Mountain View Lions Club.
"This is a clear case where changes in the law had unintended consequences that made no policy sense," Petersen said.
The Senate passed the defense bill several weeks ago. It still needs to pass the U.S. House and be signed by President Barack Obama.