A unanimous Juneau Planning Commission approved the first phase of the Pederson Hill subdivision, clearing a major hurdle for the city’s housing initiative.
Commissioners heard testimony Tuesday night from the city’s Lands Manager Greg Chaney who made a pitch for 86 relatively small homes that could be entry-level housing for renters looking to buy.
“You could have a $250,000 starter home — nothing fancy,” Chaney said. “Compare that to living in an apartment and that’s what people will be considering with a mortgage payment here or a rent payment there.”
But the Planning Commission also heard pointed criticism.
“You guys, at some point when you went from infrastructure from roads and highways, airports, docks and harbors, water and sewer and you became housing developers for private sector,” said Jeremy Sidney, who owns a trucking company.
“You interjected yourselves into this market that was a really big mistake and you never should’ve done it,” he said. “And you shouldn’t do it now. I don’t believe it’s your place as a government.”
After the vote, Juneau Assembly member Debbie White said she supports the Pederson Hill concept even if it is controversial.
“Everybody’s always saying how we need to do something about affordable housing — this is something that we can do about it,” White said in an interview. “I have to say that I found it frustrating to find out that the same people that say they want affordable housing said, ‘Oh we want you to do this in a different way.’ And there’s no one way that is going to please everybody in Juneau.”
Now that the subdivision has been approved it will be up to the Juneau Assembly to decide how it will offload the lots.
Questions remain whether they will be put out to bid individually or in blocks.
Whether lots would be offered at fair market value or discounted to make them more affordable is another decision that’s still months away.
