JUNEAU -- Development in Juneau has never been easy to swallow for those who moved to Southeast to take advantage of its awe-inspiring views of glaciers, mountains and waterways.
Residents here turn their noses up at the sprawl of Anchorage. They have a love-hate relationship with Outsiders -- cruise-ship tourists in the summer and lawmakers in the winter -- who are the backbone of the local economy.
Talk about building The Road still stirs passionate debate, as do suggestions that the Capitol be relocated.
So it was only natural that many Juneauites worried when the longtime owners of a small, forested island just a quarter of a mile from the main shore decided to sell to a husband-and-wife development team with plans to subdivide it into luxury home sites accessible only by boat.
The developers, Karla and Steven Allwine, advertised the 38 waterfront lots on Spuhn Island as pristine, secluded getaways with easy assess to the Mendenhall Glacier and all the amenities of city life. Each lot is connected to city water, electricity and even fiber-optic cable.
Plots range from 1.3 to 3.4 acres with unobstructed views of mountains and water. Prices start at $169,900.
The Allwines targeted potential buyers through full-page ads in Alaska Airlines' magazine and The Robb Report, a magazine about luxury lifestyles.
In Juneau, some feared the worst for the popular recreation spot with sandy coves that for years had been a destination for kayakers and boaters, campers and eagle watchers.
Exclusive communities that shut out public access to Alaska's wild places are not what Juneau is about, they said.
"Spuhn Island is a classic, scenic Southeast island," said Diane Mayer, the executive director of the Southeast Alaska Land Trust, which tried unsuccessfully to buy the island four years ago.
"Our view is keep open those places that really define a place, so development can happen around them."
NEIGHBORS OBJECT
The Allwines tried to quell their fears, saying the development's covenant rules preserve the natural integrity of the island. The interior 57 acres of the 157-acre island will remain undeveloped to protect a family of deer, they said.
"This is not a typical development, and I'm not a typical developer," said Karla Allwine.
Neighborhood associations representing clusters of houses across the waterway complained to the city Assembly that their cul-de-sac would turn into a parking lot for Spuhn Island residents traveling back and forth on their boats.
They feared development of multimillion-dollar homes on Spuhn Island would usher in jet skis and big boats, creating noise that would disturb them and the island's many eagle nests.
"We saw this as the start of something, with Sitka being the model for where it could be going," said Pat Harris, a member of the neighborhood association that voiced concerns.
IT STARTED IN SITKA
If a trend of luxury vacation-home investments is taking off in Southeast, its origins are rooted in Sitka.
A decade ago, the state began selling several small islands to private owners, some of whom built large, single-family houses on them. Others built rustic cabins with no running water and used them as a place to get away in a very Alaska way.
Sitka's larger islands were next to go, and several were subdivided and developed. Over the years, the houses on the islands got bigger, the docks longer and the number of visitors doubled, said Michael LaGuire, the owner and broker at Re/Max realty in Sitka.
The buyers began to change too.
As costs of coastal properties in California, Oregon and Washington skyrocketed, Lower 48 investors moved up the coast to Alaska, where land prices -- even for a private island -- seemed almost reasonable, LaGuire said.
Local reaction in Sitka varied.
"There are some with the attitude of 'It's your land; do what you want,' " LaGuire said. "But some homesteaders ... have had the quiet enjoyment of their islands for years and, well, like most of us, don't like change."
Sitka also has a growing problem with a lack of available affordable housing, which has fueled discontent with the construction of million-dollar McMansions for investing Californians, said Felix AuYeung of Sitka's Affordable Housing Manager.
"Residents see a real danger here if we turn into a vacation-home town and it's no longer a place where people can live and raise a family," AuYeung said. The average house sales price in Sitka last year was $338,000, according to a city and borough study.
At least one island community has decided to take action. Residents of Galankin Island have asked the planning and zoning boards to require a lodge permit for home owners with live-in employees.
"With so many of these folks bringing up their staff of cooks and captains and housekeepers, this little island's population of 12 or 14 residents is suddenly quadrupling," LaGuire said. "For those who came first and built simple cabins on the island to get away from it all, they are frustrated with the impact on the island's docks and such in summer."
REMOTE AND MODERN
Karla Allwine says Spuhn Island will be different. She wants discerning buyers who are seeking to experience and preserve the island's natural character while enjoying modern conveniences.
"If there is anyone who will develop Spuhn Island right, it's Karla," said Rep. Beth Kerttula, a Democrat from Juneau. "She'll be sensitive to the island's unique environment."
In developing the island, Allwine said, she worked closely with the state's Department of Environmental Conservation and other city and state environmental officials. About 55 acres jutting off the main section will remain a city park for recreational use.
The island was named after Carl Spuhn, a merchant marine on John Muir's expedition to Alaska. Spuhn eventually settled in Juneau and opened a trading post.
The island was homesteaded in the 1920s and turned into a fox farm that operated until the 1950s.
Allwine has installed a dock long enough for 30 slips and laid a gravel dirt road across the island. No cars will be allowed, only ATVs.
So far, eight of the 38 plots have been sold, two to people from the Lower 48.
Ann Fleckenstein, 43, is one of them. She's an elementary school teacher looking to escape the summer heat in Wilmington, Del.
"I can understand Juneau's concerns about not wanting a touristy site with lots of cars," she said. "But I'm not a big power-boat person. I'm coming there for peace and quiet."
Construction of the first house is scheduled for this summer.
After four years of concern from neighbors about the island's fate, Allwine said the opposition has finally calmed to her commitment to keeping the island a special place for Juneau.
"Once they realized I wasn't going to overdevelop it and ravage the place, things seemed to come to pass," she said.
Daily News reporter Sabra Ayres can be reached at sayres@adn.com or in Juneau at 1-907-586-1531.
