Scenic Corridor Study to have revised plan

Residents who commented on the Mat Su Borough’s Scenic Corridor Study might have the opportunity to comment on a revised draft plan.

Land Design North was contracted by the Borough to produce a technical study late last year.  The study was to examine publicly owned land between milepost 104 to milepost 132 of the Parks Highway, roughly the area between the Susitna and Chulitna bridges.  It would give the Borough recommendations on viewsheds, scenic overlooks and where nodes of development might be placed.  The document is to go hand in hand with future South Denali Visitor Center implementation.  The area in question is south of the Denali State Park and the Park Special Use District.

Eileen Probasco, Borough Planner, is working on the document and says that she thinks some residents might have misunderstood the scope of the study.  Some public comments were received concerning private parcels of land outside the study area.  She says the Borough is not looking at private lands in this study, although she agrees some of them have value in the discussion.

Probasco says its not intended to be a two or three year process and is not an environmental document.  She says the study is a tool that will be used to make recommendations on how publicly owned lands will be developed in the future, types of setbacks that might be recommended in specific cases, and areas that might be developed as pockets of commercial and private property if the Borough were to dispose of lands.  A revised study will be out for review in February.