Hearing records evidence for Harding Lake ‘grandfather’ residence; borough to issue determination within 15 days

Fairbanks North Star Borough staff recommended affirmative recognition of legal nonconforming ("grandfather") status for a single-family dwelling on a 1-acre lease area within Government Lot 4 at Harding Lake during an administrative hearing on Nov. 6, 2025. Planner Anduin K. McElroy told the hearing that lease and zoning records indicate the leased area was created and recorded before the borough’s 1988 zoning change that prohibited residential use, and staff therefore recommended recognition of the residential use as a legal nonconforming use.

McElroy summarized the site history: Government Lot 4 was created by BLM patent in 1966 and zoned unrestricted in 1968 (when residential use was permitted); it was rezoned to outdoor recreation in 1971 (residential was permitted at that time), and in 1988 the borough adopted Ordinance No. 8,810 on April 19, 1988, after which residential use was no longer permitted in the outdoor recreation zone. McElroy said a lease recorded in 1984 included a plot plan (from 1990) that shows a cabin on the leased area and that assessor field-card notes and aerial imagery from about 1978–79 and 2023 show a structure in the same location with an access path from the lake.

McElroy told the hearing that the assessor’s records and the recorded lease make the lease area a legal lot of record, even though the parcel never received separate platting approval. The staff report noted the assessor field card did not conclusively date the building’s construction; McElroy said staff could not determine the exact year the structure was built but that subsequent site visits and aerial imagery did not show an interruption in residential use. Staff also reported a public notice process (10 property notices sent Oct. 22) with one general inquiry.

Because a grandfather-rights determination is decided administratively after evidentiary hearings, the hearing officer said the department will issue an administrative determination within 15 days of the hearing; that determination may be appealed to the Planning Commission by filing a notice and fee with the borough clerk’s office no later than 15 days after mailing. No members of the public signed up to testify at the hearing, and the applicant, Carrie Barrick, said she had nothing further to add.

Staff recommended that the 1-acre lease area on Government Lot 4 be granted affirmative recognition of legal nonconforming use status as it pertains to a single residential dwelling unit in the outdoor recreation zoning district. The borough will issue a written administrative determination with appeal instructions within the stated timeline.