Commission approves conditional use permit for West Susitna Parkway gravel operation with abatement condition

The Matanuska‑Susitna Borough Planning Commission approved Resolution 26‑05 on May 18 authorizing a conditional use permit for Fakeland Gravel Products (application name transcribed as Fakeland/Fickland) to extract an estimated 280,000–360,000 cubic yards of earth materials over a period of up to 10 years from a roughly 22‑acre parcel at 20254 West Susitna Parkway.

Wade Long, development services manager, summarized the proposal and staff conditions. He said the operation would be seasonal, could run seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and might use excavators, loaders and a mobile screening plant; an earth‑materials crusher would be limited to weekdays (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) and prohibited in later phases. Long noted a prior administrative permit and an existing shop structure encroachment into a required setback; staff recommended approval subject to operational limits, buffering, reclamation and a condition to abate the setback violation before operation.

Long summarized projected truck movements and mitigation: "The applicant proposes to extract approximately 280,000 to 360,000 cubic yards of material over a period of up to 10 years," and staff estimated peak haul activity at approximately 24 truck trips per hour with lower volumes outside peak periods. Commissioners asked about traffic notification and signage; applicant Brian Picklin said an earlier permit included placing "truck entering" signage when haul volumes exceed 12 trucks per hour and agreed to deploy the signs with operators each day.

The public comment record included a written comment citing concerns about truck traffic, road conditions and safety on South Big Lake Road and West Susitna Parkway; no community‑council comments were received. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources commented that a reclamation plan is required and review is pending landowner permission; staff required proof of DNR reclamation compliance as a condition of operation.

Commissioner McCabe moved the resolution, Commissioner Carpenter seconded, and commissioners adopted staff's suggested amendment requiring abatement of the existing setback violation for the shop structure and notice to the Planning Department prior to operation. The amended resolution passed with no objections recorded in the transcript.

Conditions of approval in the adopted permit include verification that the east exterior wall of the shop structure has been moved out of the setback prior to operation, proof of compliance with DNR reclamation requirements, survey markers for extraction boundaries, and limits on crusher operation to specified phases and hours. Staff indicated code compliance records show prior extraction remained under administrative thresholds in earlier years and that the applicant demonstrated good‑faith efforts to comply with conditions.

The permit approval includes standard reclamation and buffering conditions; the operation is expected to cease by the end of the 2036 season and proceed to reclamation at that time.