Planning commission recommends assembly not adopt Fuller Lake management plan after residents and commissioners raise access concerns

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission voted, as amended, to recommend that the borough assembly not adopt the Fuller Lake Lake Management Plan and its accompanying ordinance (Resolution 25-11). The commission's amended recommendation specifically cites concern that a total ban on personal watercraft and a maximum 5-horsepower limit for motorized boats on a state-owned lake would unreasonably reduce access, use and enjoyment of Fuller Lake by Alaska residents.

Planning staff said the Fuller Lake Management Plan was initiated by the Fuller Lake community in 2024 under the borough's lake management plan process (MSB 15.24.030(c)). Staff described a multi-step community process: a petition in June 2024, a mailed ballot process by parcel, and subsequent ballots on specific regulations. Fuller Lake spans about 39 surface acres with an average depth of about 5 feet 9 inches; 29 parcels border the lake but one is owned by Meadow Lakes Elementary School and is ineligible to…