Downtown Juneau’s future takes center stage at candidate forum
- Mark Sabbatini
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
Upcoming demolition of Telephone Hill, new Huna Totem dock, parking, homeporting icebreaker among issues discussed by Assembly candidates
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Demolishing and redeveloping Telephone Hill so there’s sufficient housing when a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker is homeported in Juneau is part of downtown’s future as envisioned by the incumbent. His challenger, while disagreeing with that plan, suggested demolishing and redeveloping City Hall as a parking area to solve a different persistent problem downtown.
Such visions were the general theme of a forum for candidates in the Oct. 7 municipal election hosted Thursday evening by the Juneau Downtown Business Association. Four candidates seeking three Juneau Board of Education seats opened the event by giving brief statements about why they’re running, with most of the evening devoted to the ensuing discussion by four Assembly candidates.
Two Assembly incumbents, Greg Smith and Ella Adkison, are running unopposed. The other race features challenger Nano Brooks against incumbent Wade Bryson.
Both Bryson and Brooks described themselves as business owners in downtown Juneau, and said they are seeking many common goals such as more housing and economic development, but often differed on the specifics of those goals and how to achieve them.
"There's just two different methods of operation to try and to achieve the same things," Brooks said.
Among their differences is the demolition of Telephone Hill scheduled to start next month, with occupants of 13 homes that are among Juneau’s oldest being formally evicted on Oct. 1, as part of a redevelopment plan that includes mid-rise apartments with about 150 total residential units. Bryson, and most other Assembly incumbents support the plan, while Brooks said he opposes the scheduled eviction of the residents.
A key reason to proceed with the redevelopment, which has been discussed for many years, is to help ensure sufficient housing exists when the U.S. Coast Guard’s Storis icebreaker is homeported in Juneau during the coming years, Bryson said. Up to 600 people — including crew members and their families — are expected from that deployment.
"Telephone Hill is a very controversial topic, but we looked at the Coast Guard and we said ‘We're going to build your houses in here,’" Bryson said. "The other thing about Telephone Hill…the city is not in the business of being private landlords. We're not supposed to do that. So given us this gift of Telephone Hill from the state, we have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize that land for the most citizens possible and that does mean developing it."
Brooks said he questions whether the new housing on Telephone Hill will be ready by the time the icebreaker is homeported year-round in Juneau. Also, noted city leaders agreed to proceed with the demolition without having key aspects of the redevelopment plan in place, including a developer to build the new housing.
"If there’s no contractor presenting a path forward with any viable plans in three years I'd like to see it exactly how it is," he said, responding to a question about how he envisions the neighborhood at the end of his three-year term if elected. "But if we have a contractor who's ready to jump on this and help build for the community what we actually need, then it would be a bunch of well-built, dense housing, but also still trying to preserve some kind of significant or historical significance."
Adkison, answering the same question, said the redevelopment plan is "an actual, real opportunity for at least 150 units of dense, affordable housing in downtown." Smith said one reason developers are reluctant to submit proposals is the uncertainty of knowing specifically what construction they will be performing, which is why the city is proceeding with demolition and site preparation work to remove that concern.
All four candidates expressed general optimism about Juneau’s economic potential and some lingering concerns, with Brooks in particular differing in specifics from the three incumbents.
He is the lone candidate favoring both ballot measures by a citizen’s group to lower the cap on property taxes and eliminate sales taxes on food and utilities, while opposing an Assembly-backed ballot proposition for a seasonal sales tax. The incumbent candidates, who oppose the property tax cap, say the seasonal sales tax will generate enough extra revenue to allow the exemption for food and utilities without forcing the city to make budget cuts.
Brooks said one of his primary concerns is a large increase in assessed property values in recent years, along with ongoing increases in utility and other fees, is making Juneau unaffordable to people who are departing as a result. As with his previous two campaigns, his primary economic stimulus pitch is making thousands of acres of undeveloped city property available via a "land lottery" that he says would both generate large amounts of revenue for the city as well as spur development that would result in additional economic benefits.
"Right now, more so than anything, people need a little bit of relief, a little bit of reprieve from the continued increases that have gone through assessments that far surpass what dropping the mill rate has tried to accomplish," he said. "The utility rates that are going to be going up exponentially over the next couple of years to a really astounding amount, which should have been addressed a long time ago too. And these all go back into priorities, and right now the priority is making sure that we're taking care of people in the community, and raising these rates is not going to do that."
Bryson cited economic boosts from the icebreaker, redevelopment of Telephone Hill, a new private Huna Totem cruise ship dock, and major development projects in north Douglas — including a new two-dock cruise port proposed by Goldbelt Inc. — as reasons for optimism.
But the two-term incumbent, who previously has referred to himself as the Assembly’s most conservative member, said Juneau is also facing numerous cost concerns ranging from flood mitigation in the Mendenhall Valley to developing affordable housing. Lowering the property tax cap will hinder the ability to cope with such matters, and if the sales tax exemption is passed without a way to make up for lost revenue the city will also be forced to consider cuts to programs and services ranging from street maintenance to Eaglecrest Ski Area.
"It's not a bad idea, but we do have to fill that gap," Bryson said, referring to the sales tax exemption. "Without filling that $9 million hole the pain that we would feel in the city would be more painful than the money that we do save."
Among the needs and costs the city is facing is more downtown parking, with complaints about shortages coming from workers, people visiting stores and offices, and students at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. Bryson said it costs about $90,000 to $100,000 to develop a parking spot — and discussions about various options are in the works — but in the meantime the limited availability downtown is due in part to businesses seeking exemptions from that cost.
"We've actually gone the opposite direction of what you guys need," he said. "We've made no-parking requirements for some of the downtown area — you can develop without having to show that you have parking, because that was (a loud) demand on the Assembly."
Brooks, noting he also favors some options being considered by city leaders such as expanding a current downtown parking garage, also suggested another possibility is turning the land the current City Hall is on into a parking site if the city proceeds with a plan to relocate to the Michael J Burns Building that is currently in the negotiation stage.
UPCOMING CANDIDATE/BALLOT PROPOSITION FORUMS FOR OCT. 7 MUNICIPAL ELECTION
(May be updated to reflect schedule changes or additional events)
Sunday, Sept. 7
• 1 p.m.: Assembly candidates, focus on Douglas Island issues. At the Douglas Public Library, 1016 3rd St. in Douglas.
Thursday, Sept. 11
• 7 a.m.: School board candidates, hosted by the Juneau-Gastineau Rotary Club. At T.K. Maguires, 375 Whittier St.
Thursday, Sept. 18
• 7 a.m.: Ballot propositions, hosted by the Juneau-Gastineau Rotary Club. At T.K. Maguires, 375 Whittier St.
Friday, Sept. 19
• 7 p.m.: Assembly and school board candidates, plus ballot propositions, hosted by the League of Women Voters. At the KTOO studios, 360 Egan Drive.
Thursday, Sept. 25
• Noon: School board candidates, hosted by the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. At the Juneau Moose Family Center, 8335 Airport Blvd.
Thursday, Oct. 2
• Noon: Assembly candidates, hosted by the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. At the Juneau Moose Family Center, 8335 Airport Blvd.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
