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Planning commission approves Big Lake parcel reclassification for emergency services site and resource management
Summary
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission on April 20 approved Resolution 26-06 to reclassify a 40-acre parcel in Big Lake, reserving five acres for an emergency services well and helicopter landing pad and designating the remaining 35 acres for resource management and reserved use; any gravel extraction or development will require separate permits.
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission on April 20 approved Resolution 26-06 to reclassify three parcels in the Big Lake area, designating a 40-acre property so that five acres are set aside for an emergency services well site and helicopter landing pad and the remaining 35 acres are classified for resource management and reserved use.
Lisa Gray, the borough’s land management agent, told commissioners that emergency services had sought a water well site and an emergency helicopter landing pad and that staff evaluated three parcels. "Parcel A meets all the needs of emergency services," Gray said, noting that parcel B has topography and roadway constraints and parcel C lies within the five-mile ISO response radius of the Big Lake Fire Department. Gray said a 2023 Recon engineering report identified a large Class A gravel reserve on the east side of Parcel A and described a phased plan: design and construct the emergency facility and driveway first, then later extract gravel as needed.
The change is a land-classification decision, not a permit for excavation or facility construction. When a commissioner asked whether approval meant a gravel pit would automatically follow, Gray replied through the chair that any future gravel extraction would require the normal permitting process and any required permits would be processed in the future.
Mark Betsold, president of the Clear View Condominium Association, spoke during the hearing and raised neighborhood concerns about a nearby posted application and said he had submitted an objection included in the meeting packet. He also told the commission he had received a suspicious email purporting to come from the planning commission and alerted staff to that apparent scam.
The motion to approve Resolution 26-06 was made and seconded and the commission approved the resolution by unanimous consent with no objections recorded. The classification will enable staff and emergency services to advance engineering and site design work; any construction, gravel extraction or other land-disturbing activity will require separate permits and additional public review.
Next procedural steps include any design and permitting work by public works and emergency services and, if applicable, individual permit reviews that would return to the public record.
