Hillside District Plan

Scope of Work Summary

HILLSIDE DISTRICT PLAN

Scope of Work Summary

Purpose and Intent

The Municipalityis developing a scope of work, cost estimate and schedule for preparation of the Anchorage Hillside District Plan (HDP). Focus is being directed toward the Hillside because it is an area within the Bowl currently experiencing rapid growth that is expected to continue over the next several years.

The intent is to prepare a plan that implements the goals of Anchorage 2020, and is inclusive of the Hillside Wastewater Management Plan. Anchorage 2020 calls for a Hillside District Plan that addresses the following inter-related issues in a comprehensive district plan approach:

  • Land use and residential density analysis
  • Management of wastewater disposal and public water supply
  • Areawide drainage
  • Roads and drainage maintenance
  • Transportation
  • Wildfire hazard and other natural hazard mitigation
  • Public safety access
  • Unique environmental issues and open space
  • Access to ChugachState Park
  • Resolve the need to: Identify Levels of Service for public facilities and services
  • Resolve the need to: Delineate an Urban/Rural Services Boundary

Issues overlap several different departments and their respective functions, requiring a coordinated multi-agency process to address them. The adopted Hillside District Plan will be an element of the Comprehensive Plan and will serve as a policy to guide subsequent actions of the Municipality.

Background

The Hillside District Plan affects a quadrant of the city that includes areas of developed and undeveloped land in a traditionally rural setting. The Hillside contains almost two-thirds of the vacant residential land in the Anchorage Bowl suitable for single-family and is the target of intensifying development pressure. However, much vacant land on the upper Hillside is poorly suited for building due to adverse environmental conditions and lack of infrastructure.

Most of the lower Hillside is developed, although some scattered tracts with good site conditions remain vacant. Land ownership and settlement patterns, irregular topography, poor soils, variable groundwater quality and quantity, uneven residential densities, and transportation and utility access problems pose challenges for Hillside development.

The main policy document used to guide development on the Hillside for the past twenty years has been the Hillside Wastewater Management Plan (HWMP). Developed and adopted in 1982, the HWMP established sewerage service area boundaries and minimum densities for new development to be served with public sewerage. Today the HWMP no longer provides sufficient guidance for Hillside area development and/or disposal of wastewater.

Escalating development on the upper Hillside particularly in the Rabbit, Survival, and Potter Creek Watersheds has highlighted drainage and road service problems in numerous areas. Specifically, increasing surface runoff from new roads and developing lots, increasing discharges from disturbed shallow groundwater layers, and filling and rerouting of natural drainage paths in steep slope terrain is increasing effects of erosion, icing, and flooding on down-gradient roads and properties. Water does not observe the political boundaries of individual LRSAs and that service area road and drainage managers by necessity solve drainage problems only to the boundaries of their individual service areas. The managers look to the Municipality for larger watershed solutions.

Firefighters, police and emergency personnel are faced with inevitable evacuation and safety problems during wildfire and other natural hazards. A lack of fire apparatus, accessible roads, street connectivity and circulation, adverse environmental conditions, and lack of overall continuous infrastructure contribute toward a low level of service for public safety and welfare and in particular evacuation during acatastrophic event.

Land use issues such as safeguards for the health of the public and environment; acceptable development trends such asresidential densities and distribution in both developed and undeveloped areas; orderly growth and provision of public utilities and services; new water supply and wastewater disposal technologies; standards and locations where commercial development might take place; needs for and locations of public facilities;vehicular and pedestrian access to Chugach State Park; transportation systems, and provision of other public services are key elements of the development challenges on the Hillside.

There is a need to take immediate action in developing a systematic approach to deal with drainage, gaps in infrastructure,and other public safety issues in the Hillside area. The Hillside District Plan will address these existing and impending problems in a comprehensive manner.

Geographic Area

The HDP will cover the geographic area generally described as south of Abbott Road, east of the New Seward Highway, exclusive of Independence Park Subdivision, west and north ofChugachState Park. (See attached study area map).

1

Hillside District Plan

Scope of Work Summary

MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS –Scope of Work Summary

Public Participation

The plan will reflect an inclusive public process that includes input from Hillside residents, property owners, developers, and special groups such as Area G Home and Landowners Organization, Inc. (HALO), Hillside Community Council Committee, the Hillside community councils, LRSAs, and IRSAs. The public participation effort for all departments will be coordinated by the Lead Consultant for the project.

On-Site Services

On-Site Services will be responsible for various elements of the update of the HWMP for inclusion in the Hillside District Plan. The purpose of the 1982 HWMP was to identify on-site and alternative wastewater disposal techniques, the boundaries of the areas where on-site disposal is not possible and those areas in which some method of on-site alternative system should be feasible, and to identify appropriate and supporting recommendations.

On-site Services will be responsible for updating the Hillside Wastewater Disposal Study/Data Collection Report, and the Hillside Wastewater Disposal Study/Suitability Analysis and Alternative Systems Evaluation. The criteria that established the boundaries of the HWMP will be reanalyzed and both water and wastewater issues will be addressed. The department will review policies and procedures for evaluating/approving on-site wastewater treatment, transport and disposal technologies that are suitable based on physical environment and alternate new technologies.

AWWU

AWWU will complete a public water and sewer analysis. The primary scope is to analyze each provision of theHWMP, and make a recommendation on its continued relevance, applicability and justification for inclusion in the Hillside District Plan.

Tasks include: (a) Recommending safeguards for the health of the public and environment; orderly growth and provision of public utilities and services; new water supply and wastewater disposal technologies and associated local legislation; and acceptable development trends and densities. (b) Recommending justifications, practices and procedures for amending the Plan from time to time.

Project Management and Engineering --Watershed Management

Watershed Management will fund and coordinate preparation of the Hillside Drainage Study. The study area will be comprehensively analyzed and mapped for existing drainage conditions and a drainage plan will be provided for developing areas to implement. Data gathering will include mapping for items such as drainageways, watershed, slopes areas, and soils. Problem areas will be identified and alternative management solutions proposed. A drainage plan will be developed with recommendations for problem mitigation and management solutions, and recommendations for funding and implementation.

Planning

Planning will fund and coordinate preparation of a household survey, which will generally analyze community concerns related to land use issues such as commercial development on the Hillside, wastewater disposal practices, public sewer and water extension policies, drainage issues, transportation and road maintenance issues, residential density, lot size, trails, parks, and public safety. Planning will provide data and analysis for preparation of a Hillside area land use map.

Transportation and Trails

The primary scope of the transportation element is to focus on the coordination of future street and trail/pedestrian connectivity in the study area, with particular interest in connectivity between subdivisions where applicable. The study will refine and further identify which streets should be developed to collector standards. The study will also identify potential traffic-related problems that may occur as a result of land use development related to location and density with recommendations to address those concerns.

The primary scope of the trails element will be to review existing municipal documents to examine existing and proposed trails in the study area. Then a draft trails plan map will be compiled based on analysis of the above and on public input and review.

The Municipality and ChugachState Park will continue working closely on ways to improve access to the park. ChugachState Park has produced a study identifying potential access points and the Municipality will work with the State and the public to accommodate some of these desired pedestrian and vehicular access areas.

Parks and Recreation

Following the draftAnchorage Bowl Park, Natural Resource, and Recreation Facility Plan,there will be an update of the park inventory and population for the Hillside area; identification of park needs; evaluation of annual income, expenditures and core services, and evaluation of Level of Service.

Public Transportation --Transit

Existing data will be applied and “The People Mover Blueprint: a plan to restructure the Anchorage Transit System” completed in July 2002 will be used to guide any changes in Hillside service.

Public Safety -- Police, Fire and Emergency Response

A new Urban-Wild-Land Interface Code has been drafted by Anchorage Fire that will provide guidance for plan development. Other existing data from Fire and Police will be applied.

Hillside District Plan Timeline:

4th quarter 2005Complete Project Scope of Work (includes meetings with participating departments/agencies and community councils/ HALO)

4th quarter 2005Project Manager under contract

Project Funding Appropriated 2006 budget

1st quarter 2006Lead Consultant under contract

3rd quarter 2007Draft Plan (contingent on completion of consultant studies)

Attachments:

  • Study Area Map
  • Funding Summary
  • Project Organization Flow Chart

1