Juneau is facing a housing crisis — there are simply not enough homes to keep up with demand. To increase the supply, the city wants to open up more public land for development.
This week, the Juneau Planning Commission approved a series of land rezones that span from North Douglas to Auke Bay. All of them would increase housing density in those areas. But not everybody is thrilled about it.
The Juneau Assembly has long tried to tackle Juneau’s housing crunch. Members have tried all sorts of things to encourage more development. Their latest attempt is to entice more developers by rezoning city-owned land to allow for denser housing.
Last year, the Assembly directed city Lands and Resources staff to look at what city land could be rezoned.
“The market is stuck,” said Dan Bleidorn, the city’s lands and resources manager, at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting. “Part of this like multiple-zone-change scenario is to try to get multiple types of city property ready for development or disposal at a future time when plans can be worked on.”
The commission approved rezones for land north and south of Grant Creek, and west of the Bonnie Brae and Blacktail Subdivisions on North Douglas. They also approved land in the Auke Bay area and private land in Lemon Creek near the prison. All would increase the housing density allowed.
At the meeting, a few residents were not keen on the idea of allowing more housing to be developed, specifically on North Douglas.
“I understand the need to increase housing, but if we do it and put people in harm’s way, that’s not a service to the community,” said North Douglas resident Gary Gillette.
He said he was concerned about increased traffic more housing could bring to the area, and the lack of access it has to emergency services. He asked the commission to hold off on approving the rezones until a second crossing from Douglas Island to Juneau is built. That’s still years away – the city and the state are still determining where a new bridge should be built.
Another resident, Kathy Coghill, also spoke against rezonings. She argued that North Douglas simply isn’t ready yet for that kind of growth.
“That’s enough from Douglas. You build the Bench road, you get us reasonable infrastructure, then come back and propose more housing out there. I’m all for it. But right now it’s really getting the cart ahead of the horse,” she said.
Big changes could be on the horizon for North Douglas in the coming years, with or without rezoning. Last week, a cruise line and Goldbelt Inc. announced plans to develop a new cruise ship port on West Douglas.
The commission denied a proposal to rezone an area near Fish Creek. They shot it down because of its distance from city utilities and concerns about impacts to Fish Creek.
Commissioner David Epstein said there are still a lot of steps to go through before any housing can actually be built on the land.
“All we’re doing here tonight is setting the table. That doesn’t mean tomorrow you know, there’s going to be housing built,” he said. “There are significant hoops and hurdles to jump over and through.”
The rezones still need to go to the Assembly for a public hearing and final approval. And, approval doesn’t necessarily guarantee developers will jump on it. High interest rates and the cost of materials continue to be stumbling blocks for developers.