By PEGGY ANN MCCONNOCHIE
When I served on the City and Borough of Juneau Planning Commission, we had to comply with Juneau’s Comprehensive Plan before making decisions about everything from building permits and code compliance to land use, zoning, and historic preservation.
The Comprehensive Plan is updated every 10 years, and the process takes approximately three years. Juneau contracted with Cascadia Partners of Portland, Ore., to update our plan. It appears that the contract will cost taxpayers roughly $750,000.
According to their website, “guiding principles” for this updated plan were developed from public input received back in the Spring. I missed that, but did recently take the CBJ Comprehensive Plan survey on the “guiding principles.” I encourage residents to take the survey so that Portland contractors can understand whether these guiding principles truly reflect the needs and priorities of the majority of Juneau residents.
The six guiding principles are:
Lifelong Wellbeing and Family Support; Housing For All; Resilient, Year-Round Local Economy; Environmental Protection and Climate Leadership; Connected Community and Neighborhoods; Culture and Community Identity.
On the surface, it’s hard to disagree with any of those, but some of the assumptions behind those headings raise some red flags for me. How about you?
The guiding principle “Housing for All” refers to compact and small-scale homes, which might be suitable for seniors or young singles. However, as a real estate professional with 43 years of experience, I know that most families want yards and safe streets for their children to ride bikes.
Another assumption under “Year-Round Local Economy” was this:
“A sustainable future for Juneau includes more stable, year-round jobs, especially in small businesses and local industries like arts and entertainment.”
That assumption is not based on reality. What has sustained Juneau over the years is its foundational industries, which employ a large number of people, including government, mining, and tourism. The Kensington mine was the last major project to come online around 2010. Still, aside from tourism, nothing else has come to mind as foundational since then.
Take a look at what’s been happening in Juneau. Families are leaving, and we’ve had to close schools. Small businesses have opened, and we have a nice arts scene, but more new businesses in those areas without people here to support them are bound to fail.
Juneau needs some big things before we need any more little things. The Huna Totem dock will help, and so will the Goldbelt development on the west side of Douglas. The icebreaker and second channel crossing are both significant events and also very necessary. However, the “Guiding Principles” don’t mention any critical points. Is that on purpose?
This same guiding principle also mentions “… improving infrastructure such as the ferry system.” We’ve been trying to do that for years. Still, the falling population in the Southeast has made significant improvements to the ferry system uneconomical. Without a road, the only hope now is Cascade Point, but the guiding principles don’t mention that either.
Under “Environmental Protection and Climate Leadership,” the guiding principles include “…preserving ecosystems like the Tongass National Forest.” That is not the job of the Juneau Planning Commission, and that should be omitted from the guiding principles of our plan. As far as energy independence is concerned, Juneau already leads the way in the number of electric vehicles and boasts 43 public charging stations, 21 of which are available for free.
Finally, under the guiding principle “Connected Community and Neighborhoods,” the assumption seems to be that everyone in Juneau wants a “walkable, mixed-use neighborhood with local shops, schools, and green spaces nearby.” As I mentioned before, many people wish to live in typical suburban neighborhoods! The City has land near the proposed Goldbelt development on the west side of Douglas that could accommodate family subdivisions that would be attractive to Coast Guard families. That is something the city can easily do to open up options for new housing areas.
This section also says that public infrastructure should “reduce car dependency.” Good luck getting people to take the bus to get to their boat in Auke Bay or to Eaglecrest to ski.
My final comment concerns the omission of any mention of Juneau’s historic past or its efforts at historic preservation. Considering the controversy surrounding Telephone Hill, this oversight may seem purposeful.
In conclusion, if Juneau is to grow and thrive, some of the assumptions in the “guiding principles” will have just the opposite effect and cause us to shrink even more.
PeggyAnn McConnochie is a Juneau resident since 1980 and a member of Capital City Republican Women.
Why would you guys pay a firm from outside $750,000 to plan your future? Aren’t there enough smart people down there to think for themselves and plan the future that they think would work best for them and the rest of the community? Maybe you can develop a future for the people that you paid the money to?
That’s the problem! Democrats keep bringing in Liberal outsiders that know NOTHING about Alaska And what they do never works
Thank you, Peggy. Residents should read the CBJ Climate Action Plan also and see how that dictates to and directs the Comprehensive Plan. Most Juneau voters haven’t read or have any knowledge of these “foundational” documents that direct the CBJ’s short- and long-term agenda(s). A lot of the non-sensical actions taken by CBJ are dictated by what is in these “planning” documents.
This was meant as a stand-alone comment, not a reply to frieswitdat.
Thank you, Peggy. Residents should read the CBJ Climate Action Plan also and see how that dictates to and directs the Comprehensive Plan. Most Juneau voters haven’t read or have any knowledge of these “foundational” documents that direct the CBJ’s short- and long-term agenda(s). A lot of the non-sensical actions taken by CBJ are dictated by what is in these “planning” documents
First, Juneau’s population is not declining. We have a building and construction boom going on. I’ve noticed more crowded roads and longer commute times (as far as the Juneau commutes is concerned). The reason for some school building closures is reduced enrollment as many homeschool these days for obvious reasons. That aside, the leadership in Juneau has always wanted to be more like Seattle and Portland.
January 2025
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development shared an update to population estimates in Alaska. It showed that while Alaska as a whole has more people than last year’s data indicated, the population in Juneau and the Southeast region continues to decline.
According to a State demographer Juneau and Southeast in general tend to lose people once they hit retirement age resulting in a larger percentage of the population leaving because they’re older. The overall decrease likely comes from a blend of increased outmigration and fewer people having children in the region. According to the data, Juneau’s population in July was nearly 200 people fewer than at the same time just a year before, and more than 800 fewer since 2020.
That’s in line with findings from a study released by the department last that projected Southeast Alaska will lose nearly a fifth of its population by 2050 — roughly 12,000 people, or the equivalent of Ketchikan and Peterburg’s populations combined, and Juneau’s population is expected to drop to around 27,000 people.
The Gastineau Hotel (originally New Cain Hotel) was a pinnacle historic structure at Front and Franklin in Juneau. Built in 1913, it far exceeded the historic value of all the structures on Telephone Hill combined. It suffered extensive fire damage but was restorable (concrete structure). Nevertheless, after obtaining possession by legal force, the borough chose to demolish it in 2018. It makes little sense to worry about history at Telephone Hill while demolishing it 3-blocks away.
The Huna Totem dock and Goldbelt development on the west side of Douglas are both purely seasonal cruise ship tourist only. Hardly year round jobs. “Leaders” like the author always demand obsequious loyalty to the almighty cruise ships with nary a thought to how much it damages the local lived experience. Maybe people are leaving Juneau because the best time of year sucks ass because of all the tourists? Why would someone working at a mine with a two weeks on and one week off schedule want to live here when the can go somewhere else that isn’t overflowing with cruise ships, helicopters, float planes, whale watching, and fishing charters?
Realtors like the author always say free up land so we can build more houses! We’ve been freeing up land and building houses with a basically flat population for over 25 years. But yet we still have a housing shortage and the most expensive homes in Alaska that nobody with a summer tourist job can afford. Maybe it is because nobody wants to build affordable housing when you can make bigger profits off of a house at $860,000 than one at $380,000? (And when did $380,000 become “affordable?”)
“Leaders” like the author have been driving the train of TOURISM and MORE LAND for my 55 years in Juneau. Given that it is crappier and more expensive than ever to live in Juneau I think we can say the author’s suggestions are WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Someone who shoots off their mouth with vulgarity, rudeness and lack of perspective like you exhibit needs to stay an anonymous coward I guess.
akvoter1986, You criticize the author of the article for her suggestions yet you offered none of your own. You say, land has been available and houses were being built for the last 25yrs… but we still have a shortage. You say its because builders prefer to build $860,000 rather than $380,000 homes.
Let’s unpack your facts. The population stays flat for 25-yrs. So, apparently people in Juneau are selling their $380,000 homes to buy $860,000 homes. However, that would not contribute to a housing shortage; would it? Please take a stab at explaining what’s really going on. I’ll explain only if you’re unable to do so.
Juneau is a TERRIBLE place to live. The housing market is disastrous. As long-time legislative staff, I’ve lived there for approximately 6.5 years (over 16 sessions). Virtually every place I’ve lived up to this time has been purchased and is no longer available or has been priced out. I live in a Weidner property in SouthCentral and my 2/br 2/ba unit (with covered parking and a workout room, partially furnished) is almost the same price (maybe less) than an unfurnished studio with no parking, in Juneau. The Marineview kicks us out around April 15th to make room for tourist staff, leaving dozens of legislators and staff scrambling for housing for the last month.
There are limited affordable dining options downtown (the McDonald’s/Subway/Burger King/Taco Time are long gone). Juneau brags about having the world’s smallest Costco. There isn’t a Planet Fitness because it doesn’t meet their franchise population standard. Toward the end of session, when multiple cruise ships arrive, cell phone bandwidth drops dramatically due to the passenger volume.
Fake HR Haldeman, The only conclusion I can derive from your comment is that we should all move to Anchorage because it has the best of all things in the best of all possible worlds….
The six guiding principles are worded like a proven liberal recipe for failure, conveying the impression that the town’s owned and operated by one big happy homeowners’ association.
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No? For $750K, what vibrant, prosperous, reasonably conservative city already runs on the same six guiding principles?
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For less than $750K, was it not possible to visit such a city, find out whether it even has a Comprehensive Plan and just copy whatever plan it might have?
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Could the awful truth be that the Juneau’s Comprehensive Plan is, and has been, a failure from inception and the primary reason that Juneau appears to be sinking under the weight of a parasitic, indifferent government?
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And last, is this story yet more evidence that things can be fixed only when voters regain control of their election system?