The City and Borough of Juneau hosted an open house Wednesday to gather public opinion on what to do with Telephone Hill.
About 50 attendees answered survey questions like, “What types of uses would you like to see on Telephone Hill?”
For some who live there, the uncertainty around the downtown neighborhood’s future is getting old.
“It’s been really exhausting mentally and emotionally,” said Callie Conerton.
Telephone Hill is home to a small apartment building and seven houses, including some of the oldest in the state. Until this spring, the state owned the neighborhood. In March, ownership transferred to the city. Since then, the city has been working toward redeveloping the neighborhood, possibly by building new housing.
But that redevelopment means that the people who already live there will have to move. And some say they’re worried about finding new homes in Juneau’s competitive housing market.
Conerton grew up on Telephone Hill and rents there now. She said she’s glad the city is involving and listening to the residents in this process — and so far, the city hasn’t given them a move-out date or an eviction notice. But she’s concerned about her father’s quality of life if he ends up having to move.
“My family lives up there, and my father has Parkinson’s — he has a TBI,” Conerton said. “Housing is really hard to find, especially with wheelchair access.”
City officials said the event was meant to get a sense of what residents think of Telephone Hill, and what should happen to it. Presenters from Oregon-based urban design firm First Forty Feet asked the attendees to share what opportunities and challenges exist for future development in the neighborhood.
During the survey, most attendees stressed things like “preserving the historic neighborhood,” “preserving the homes” and “preserving the trees and greenery.” The second most common theme was adding affordable housing.
Mark Whitman doesn’t live on Telephone Hill himself, but he says he values what the neighborhood has to offer — green space, historic buildings and few tourists wandering around. He said he doesn’t want it to be redeveloped beyond making the neighborhood better for the people who already live there, and certainly not bulldozed and completely redeveloped.
“We’ve seen neighborhood after neighborhood taken over by tourism, concrete, steel and glass,” he said during the open house. “This is an opportunity to show that we can do something for local people.”
The City and Borough of Juneau is working with MRV Architects and Oregon-based design agency First Forty Feet. Jason Graff with First Forty Feet said there will be more opportunities for public comment next month, and that not redeveloping the area at all is still on the table. But he said plans for the neighborhood should be mostly drafted by October or November.
In the meantime, Conerton said her neighbors and her family are scrambling to figure out what to do.
“One family just, like, peaced out,” she said. “Another person was just like, ‘I’m worried about everything.’”