Several borough-owned lots in Petersburg will get utilities in the next year or so. Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority will do the work. In return, the nonprofit will get seven of the lots. The borough will keep the other four.
Assembly members voted unanimously in favor of the move on Monday, January 6.
Assembly member Jeigh Stanton Gregor said he supports the $3 million dollar project.
“This is going to be coming with roads, electric, water, sewer and storm drainage utilities, all from Tlingit and Haida,” he said. “That is critical infrastructure to open up 11 new lots for the community of Petersburg. “We’ll open it up for 11 new families to have houses – home ownership at that. So I think this is a no-brainer, and I hope it passes.”
There’s a housing shortage in Petersburg – a 2023 study found the town needs more than 300 homes in the coming decade. The borough plans to sell the four developed lots to the public. Tlingit and Haida plans to build homes for tribal citizens on the remaining seven lots.
The project is a partnership between the Petersburg Borough, Tlingit and Haida, and the local tribe, the Petersburg Indian Association, or PIA. Mayor Mark Jensen said he appreciates the collaboration.
“This is a good step forward to add more housing lots available in Petersburg,” he said. “And I thank PIA and Tlingit and Haida for moving forward with this partnership.”
PIA got the money for the project from a federal housing grant. The tribe passed it to Tlingit and Haida because it’s easier for the regional housing nonprofit to get the project done – it has relationships with engineers and contractors, and an administrative staff to manage the work.
The three groups partnered in a similar land swap in 1996, when they developed Petersburg’s Airport Subdivision. There are now houses on the majority of the lots in the neighborhood. The eleven new lots will expand the north side of the Airport Subdivision along North 14th Street.
At last week’s assembly meeting, outgoing PIA Tribal Council President Debra O’Gara pointed out that new homes bring money to the borough.
“I think the benefit for the assembly and for the entire borough is that where there’s no tax base at all right now, the borough gets 11 lots that will be taxable as soon as they’re developed,” she said. “So, this I see as really a win-win situation for the borough, for tribal citizens and for the entire community.”
Tlingit and Haida will now hire engineers and put plans together. The improvements to the eleven lots are estimated to cost nearly $3 million dollars, but Borough Manager Steve Geisbrecht said he expects that number to move around quite a bit once engineering looks at the project. He said the project should be underway by this summer.
