Alaska News

Residents object to airport park and trail exchange

A proposal for a big land swap involving park and trail land near Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is stirring up protests from West Anchorage residents.

"We're opposed to it. It's pretty simple," said Turnagain Community Council president Cathy Gleason.

"A blanket trade is not a good idea," said Pat Redmond, a longtime Turnagain resident.

The idea of a multiparcel land trade between the city and the state-owned airport is included in the city's proposed West Anchorage District Plan, a land-use and development blueprint for a section of town surrounding the airport.

The planners recommend a comprehensive land swap as a way to deal with the fact that land many people think belongs to city parks and trails -- such as stretches of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail -- is in reality airport land that can be taken away from public use at any time.

The city Planning and Zoning Commission held a hearing on the plan Monday at the Spenard Recreation Center and will continue the hearing and possibly take action Monday. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at Loussac Library. The plan also needs approval of the Anchorage Assembly.

Planners don't recommend a specific trade but identify key parcels that could be involved.

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For example, most of the Coastal Trail between Earthquake Park and Kincaid Park is on airport land, as are Little Campbell Lake on the north side of Kincaid, and part of Connor's Lake Park, a popular city dog park.

The Coastal Trail was built under an agreement between the city and the airport that can be revoked on 90 days' notice, says the report.

The city could benefit from owning all of that airport property, the planners say.

Meantime, the airport is eyeing the city-owned Point Woronzof Park, a 191-acre dedicated park that the Coastal Trail crosses. The park is south of the Point Woronzof parking area and south of the sewage plant run by the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility. It would take a public vote to trade the park to the airport.

The airport is also interested in an adjoining parcel owned by AWWU. AWWU wants the same property though, for possible future growth of its own.

The airport in 2008 proposed building a new, fourth runway across Point Woronzof Park, which resulted in a public outcry. At the same time, the economy sank and the new runway plans were dropped. The airport has no specific plans for the park land at the moment, said Trudy Wassel, airport business manager. It could be the site of another runway, or it could be used for other aviation-related development, she said.

The land is attractive to the airport for expansion because it's separated from any residential property, Wassel said.

Regardless of what the airport needs, the city Community Development Department supports what it calls a "comprehensive land trade" because that's the best way for the city to get ownership of airport lands that are valuable to the public, the report says.

The airport is restricted by the FAA from just selling property to the city, said city planner Thede Tobish.

The airport has to first prove there won't ever be an aviation need for any land it wants to dispose of, the planners said in backup documents.

The Turnagain Community Council wants the city to pursue that approach, though -- getting a declaration that land the city wants isn't needed for aviation -- instead of trading dedicated city park land like Point Woronzof Park to the state. That way, it could get what it wants without a trade.

Or there might be a way to get easements for park and trail use, Gleason said in an interview.

"The only parcels the airport is interested in are the ones I don't think the city should put on the table," she said.

Redmond agrees. "I just don't feel comfortable giving up land now we might need for something else. Park land is at a premium."

Airport executives understand the importance of the Coastal Trail and would not get rid of it even if trail segments remain in state ownership, Gleason said.

Most people who commented in writing expressed views similar to Redmond and Gleason.

West side resident Blythe Marston, in written comments, said she thinks the city planners' recommendation for a comprehensive land swap is premature. Instead, the report could be a starting point for a formal, open process to address the land ownership issues, she said.

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Valerie Connor, conservation director of the Alaska Center for the Environment, noted that the airport's 2008 proposal to build a new runway through Point Woronzof Park would have resulted in moving, and maybe tunneling, a significant section of the coastal trail.

"To now see this project raise its head again ... is unacceptable," Connor wrote.

A city commission, the Watershed and Natural Resources Commission, passed a resolution in favor of the planners' land swap proposals, saying such a swap could resolve long-term land use conflicts.

Even if the West Anchorage Plan is adopted, any land trades would still have to be negotiated, said Tobish. Adoption would just mean comprehensive land trades would be a recommended city policy.

Reach Rosemary Shinohara at rshinohara@adn.com or 257-4340.

Photos: A look at the land in question

By ROSEMARY SHINOHARA

Anchorage Daily News

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