Hundreds urge Juneau assembly to pause evictions and demolition at Telephone Hill

Dozens of residents urged the City and Borough of Juneau assembly to pause evictions and demolition at Telephone Hill and to delay any irreversible changes until the city presents a credible plan, including geotechnical studies, firm financing and a federal historic-review outcome.

The public-comment period, which began at 01:28:29, produced repeated calls for a moratorium. Joe Carson said a petition of 847 signatures asks the assembly "to pause the eviction and the demolition of Telephone Hill until the assembly has a credible plan for The Hill's future, including the costs and benefits." Mary Alice McKean said the city had not completed geotechnical analysis to show the proposed high-density project could be built on the site and cited demolition costs of about $5,500,000 and an estimated $3,500,000 for a required road. She urged the assembly to "do the analysis first."

Speakers across several turns raised three recurrent concerns: that the city has not demonstrated a contractor or binding developer commitment to pay site and access costs; that demolition would eliminate historic structures and community assets; and that alternative city-owned sites (for example, 450 Whittier, mentioned by McKean) might present cheaper, less risky options. Paige Bridges said the U.S. Coast Guard may require houses to remain standing to complete a Section 106 historic-review, warning that trying to circumvent that federal process could prompt litigation. Several speakers asked the assembly to consider right-of-first-refusal sales to current tenants rather than demolition.

Speakers described local impacts. Paul Burke said long-time residents were suffering emotional and medical effects from eviction actions; others described Telephone Hill as one of Juneau's oldest residential neighborhoods with buildings that "tell the story of the city's earliest days." Developer Joshua Adams urged investment by private renovators and recommended stronger regulation of short-term rentals as a higher-yield solution to housing supply.

Assembly members did not take immediate formal action. Mayor Walton told the public the assembly will discuss Telephone Hill at a committee-of-the-whole meeting on Nov. 3, and several speakers asked the assembly to use that session to answer outstanding questions about geotechnical work, the developer interest (RFI) process and funding commitments.

The concern over Telephone Hill was the dominant theme of a long public-comment block; speakers repeatedly requested a pause on eviction and demolition and more complete technical and funding information before the assembly moves forward.