Homeless parking proposal receives fierce south Anchorage pushback

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Some south Anchorage residents are fiercely pushing back against a LaFrance administration proposal that includes potentially designating an area off 104th Avenue and C Street as an overnight homeless parking site the administration argues would better support people sleeping in their cars, known as vehicular homelessness.

“This is intended to reduce illegal and unsafe car camping and the impact of unmanaged vehicles in residential and public areas during the summer months,” the LaFrance administration wrote in an information sheet. “It is a seasonal public health and safety measure to help prevent people from parking in unsafe, unauthorized, or high-traffic locations.”

“No site has been selected yet,” the administration goes on to write. “In preparation, the Municipality is evaluating potential sites on Municipal property, including an undeveloped Municipal right-of-way running through the I-2 heavy industrial zone located south of 104th Avenue and east of C Street.”

One of the mentions of that potential location appeared in a social media video posted Thursday by South Anchorage Assembly Member Keith McCormick showing the proximity to the Cabela’s Outdoor retailer in the background.

McCormick said he felt compelled to release the video after Vulcan Towing staff told him the LaFrance administration had already instructed them to abate and move all property from the easement to prepare for the overnight parking site.

“We just built a massive new shopping area there with Bass Pro now, Target where families are going to get their groceries and everyday needs, Starbucks, Smashburger, Orange Theory,” McCormick said. “We have all these new places to make this a hot happening spot, you’ve got Anchorage’s hottest breweries on that same road and now we’re talking about putting a camp in there. I have concerns about what it’s going to do to the businesses in that area.”

In a statement, LaFrance’s Press Secretary Emily Goodykoontz emphasized no official site has been selected while saying the administration plans to start issuing a Request for Proposals in June, with a goal of having two designated parking areas for 25 vehicles each sometime in July.

“Designated overnight parking is not a homeless encampment and differs in several key ways,” Goodykoontz said. “The area will only be open at night, and all vehicles would be required to leave by 8 a.m.; it is staffed and monitored; participants must register and agree to follow the program rules; and all vehicles must be legal and roadworthy, among other differences.”

The city memo goes on to explain the site would also come with a host of rules and regulations, such as parking only being allowed from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. with roughly 25 cars and two safety monitors on site. Other rules would include noise limitations, prohibiting drug and alcohol use, and requiring licensed drivers with registered and operable vehicles.

Waste disposal, portable toilets, and hygiene facilities, the LaFrance administration says, will be available, and argues the central location will better assist case managers and outreach workers in helping people find housing, job training, and healthcare.

Despite the proposal’s details, some who live in the area had serious doubts Friday the plan could be successful, saying regardless of that, it should not be located in their neighborhood.

“It kind of sounds like a disaster because there’s already people just living everywhere and it always turns into dangerous and messy situations, and it seems like the municipality already can’t control it,” Fairview resident Michelle Salazar said. “Designating another one is just going to make a bigger problem.”

“They’re gonna trash the area, like they do every piece of property they allow them to squat on,” longtime south Anchorage resident Lori Horton said, saying she’s written the LaFrance Administration with concerns about the potential overnight parking leading to increased crime and worries about the location’s close proximity to a school.

“They’re not fixing the solution, they’re just kicking the can down the road and blaming someone else or giving the responsibility to someone else. As a resident of this area, I’m highly opposed to it,” Horton added.

“I just don’t think that it should be in a very businesslike area,” Rabbit Creek resident Mike McGinnis added. “There’s a tremendous amount of businesses, fabrication shops, Cabela’s, Target. I think there’s a better location; I’m not too sure where that would be, but I just don’t think this would be a very good location.”

On Thursday, as the administration announced their intention to abate a homeless camp in the Mountain View neighborhood’s Davis Park in mid-June, Special Assistant on Homelessness and Health Farina Brown told reporters the administration has no intention of identifying sanctioned camping locations, but instead said they are focused on moving forward with plans of designating overnight parking.

”Designated parking was identified through Administrative Order 202426 in summer 2024, which really allowed the municipality to address particular camping,” Brown said. “We are looking at a number of municipal right-of-ways across the city and I am very excited that we are going to have a request for proposal that will be released in early June where we will be soliciting vendors for the service.”

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