Assembly reviews two remaining amendments to Girdwood comprehensive plan focusing on 'Mitten' and Virgin Creek strip

The Anchorage Assembly held a work session Thursday, March 6, to review two outstanding amendments to ordinance AO 2024-114S, the Girdwood comprehensive plan update. Presenters from the planning department, Heritage Land Bank (HLB) staff, Imagine Girdwood and the mayor’s office discussed whether to change land-use designations for a 500-foot strip near Virgin Creek west of Timberline Drive and a larger area known locally as the “Mitten.”

The amendments matter because they would change future land-use guidance for areas near existing water and wastewater services and could affect where housing and trails are developed in Girdwood. Assembly sponsor Zach Johnson framed the session as an opportunity to resolve remaining questions ahead of the ordinance’s next Assembly appearance on March 18.

Elizabeth Appleby, current planning division manager, told the Assembly the planning department’s recommendation came from a suitability analysis in the draft plan and from proximity to utility service: "We wanted to encourage development where there's already these services available." Appleby said the department had adjusted an earlier recommendation for the Virgin Creek area to a…