The Juneau Assembly will delay the planned summer demolition of the downtown Telephone Hill neighborhood until the city receives more information from prospective developers.
The Assembly is becoming increasingly divided on what to do with the city-owned property. The neighborhood is in a prime location in downtown Juneau, and the Assembly has spent the past few years planning and debating how to use the property to best serve the community after the state transferred the land to the city three years ago.
Last year, the Assembly landed on a controversial plan to spend millions to demolish the existing houses on the hill and redevelop the area into much denser housing to address Juneau’s housing crisis.
But at a committee of the whole meeting on Monday night, the Assembly re-examined that plan and considered a new idea for the hill proposed by Mayor Beth Weldon.
“My main reason for doing this is just the public outcry not to spend any more money on Telephone Hill,” she said.
Weldon proposed ditching the current plan and instead, splitting up the hill into segments and selling most of the lots as is. Her justification was that she thinks the Assembly is spending too much time and money on the project and needs to focus on other, more pressing issues.
“That is not my intent to save the houses. My intent is to get this off the plate,” she said. “I don’t care if the houses are demolished, hate to say that.”
The Assembly ultimately shot down Weldon’s proposed ordinance in a narrow 5-4 vote. But that wasn’t the last motion of the night. Deputy Mayor Greg Smith suggested a different idea that asked the city to hold off on the demolition until it received the results from a request for qualifications from developers.
A request for qualifications, or RFQ, would ask prospective developers what their qualifications are to take on the project, along with their work history and track record. The city was already planning on issuing one, but it would have run parallel to the demolition plan rather than finishing beforehand.
“I think this is just a slight change in the project. I don’t think of (it) as a stop or anything like that,” Smith said.
Assembly member Neil Steininger supported the motion, saying it’s in the community’s best interest to get that information before demolition.
“It has the added benefit of providing an opportunity to the people who have been pretty vocal coming in to say that they think there’s a different plan and a different vision that might look better for Juneau,” he said.
The neighborhood was on track to be demolished this summer. But at the meeting, City Manager Katie Koester said waiting for the results of an RFQ will likely take much longer than that timeline.
“The document will take a couple of months to draft, and then we recommend at least 90 days on the street, just because it’s a complex project, which would put issuing the RFQ to developers in July and award sometime in October,” she said.
Some Assembly members were not on board with the delay. Assembly member Christine Woll said she is committed to the redevelopment project.
“I’ve heard some people say we don’t need housing. We have hundreds of people on the street. We have hundreds of Coast Guard families coming, and we have thousands of homes in the Valley right now that are in danger of not being habitable,” she said. “I think it is an excellent use of resources.”
The Assembly ultimately approved the delay in another 5-4 vote.
The timing of the delay also coincides with a civil lawsuit, which former tenants of the hill filed against the city last fall. The lawsuit aims to stop demolition and preserve the neighborhood. It’s currently scheduled for a jury trial in August.
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