The Spouses Real Estate Blog Reporting and comenting on all things real estate July 2007
July 03, 2007 Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
CU2007-020 A request by Tarik and Angela Spear for conditional use approval of a day care facility for up to 26 children and 3 full time employees in the Multiple-Family Residential zone located on Lot 15, Block 02, Executive Park Subdivision. (located south of Adams Drive and west of Madison Street) APPROVED
OC2008-002 An ordinance amending section 18.50.160 of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Code of Ordinances as it relates to standards for residential cluster development. (Ordinance 2007-42) ADVANCED TO THE 7/17/07 MEETING
OC2008-003 An ordinance amending Title 18 of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Code of Ordinances to allow Tanning Salons as a permitted use in the Multiple-Family Residential / Professional Office District. (Ordinance 2007-43) ADVANCED TO THE 7/17/07 MEETING
30 Year Mortgage Rates Hit New Low...
Rates on 30-year mortgages sank this week to a one-month low, while rates on most other mortgages also fell, good news to prospective home buyers.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.63 percent. That was down from last week's 6.67 percent rate and was the lowest since early June, when rates stood at 6.53 percent. The moderation is welcome for people in the market to buy a home.
In mid-June, rates on 30-year mortgages climbed to 6.74 percent, an 11-month high. Rates on many mortgages have ebbed in recent weeks as investors' fears about an inflation have eased. "Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower for a third consecutive week, in part reflecting a moderation in core inflation," which excludes food and energy prices, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.
The Federal Reserve in deciding to hold a key interest rate steady last week noted that some readings on core inflation have improved. The Fed's key rate has been at 5.25 percent for a year, offering borrowers a period of steadiness.
Some other mortgage rates tracked by Freddie Mac also showed declines this week. Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, fell to 6.30 percent from 6.34 percent last week. And, rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.29 percent, down slightly from last week's 6.30 percent.
However, rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.71 percent this week, compared with 5.65 percent last week. The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. All mortgage types each carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point last week.
A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.79 percent, 15-year mortgages were at 6.44 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.39 percent and one-year ARMs were at 5.82 percent. After a five-year boom, the housing market fell into a slump last year. Sales turned weak as did home prices. The slump is expected to drag on probably through the rest of this year.
Associated Press 2007
Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission Meeting Minutes July 17, 2007
V2007-013 A request by Carrie Ivie and Jomo Stewart for a lot size variance of 1,510 square feet to the 10,000 square foot lot size requirement in the Multiple Family Residential zone in order to accommodate two existing single-family dwellings on Lot 2, Block 55 of Bjerremark Subdivision. Remanded to the Planning Commission for further action. (located on 23rd Avenue between Barnette Street and Gillam Way) Postponed to August 14, 2007
V2008-001 A request by David and Rebecca Strachen for front yard setback variances of 6.3 feet and 13.4 feet to the Rural Estate-4 front yard setback requirement of 35 feet, for an existing single family cabin located 28.7 and 21.6 feet respectively from the north lot line adjacent to the Parks Ridge Road for Lot 04 , Block 02 Parkridge Subdivision. (located north of Milkmaid Lane and south of Parks Ridge Road) Withdrawn
CU2008-002 A request by Clare de Hernandez for conditional use approval of a guest house in the Rural Residential zone on Lot 5 Block 2 Wessel Acres (located southwest of Gunflint Court) APPROVED
RZ2008-001 A request by the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Department of Land Management, to rezone (1) a portion of Griffin Park (Lot 6-G-2, Plat # 2000-37 and Lots 1-5 & a ptn. of Lot 6, Block 1, Tract C, USS 3442, westerly ptn. Of Lot 6A, Block 1, USS 3442) from Central Business District and General Commercial to Outdoor Recreation, (2) Graehl Landing Park (Graehl Park Tract, Plat # 2003-134) from General Use-1 to Outdoor Recreation, (3) Slaterville Park (Lots 1 and 2, Block C, Block D, West Portion Block B, Charles Slater Subdivision, Lot 1, Portions of Lots 3 and 4, Block 7, North Addition, Fairbanks Townsite) from Two Family Residential to Outdoor Recreation, (4) Riverside Park (Park Area A, Slater Subdivision, Plat # 128,827, Lot 1-A, Block B, Slater Subdivision, Plat # 94-81, Ptn. Of Govt. Lots 4 &10, between Chena River and replat of Block B, Slater Subdivision, Plat # 81-170, also known as TL1115) from Two Family Residential to Outdoor Recreation, and (5) Snedden Memorial Park (fka Bentley Park in QCD dated 9/26/1997) from Two Family Residential to Outdoor Recreation. Recommended Approval
RZ2008-002 A request by E & K Enterprises, Jack Koegle, to rezone approximately 88,209 sq. ft. on Tax Lot 60, Section 17, T1S R1W from Rural Estate-2 to Rural Residential or other appropriate zone (located west of Alston Road on the south end) Recommended Denial RZ2008-003 A request by Mark Nielson to rezone Tracts A and B of Happy Creek Subdivision from General Use-1 to Rural Estate-2 or other appropriate zone. (located south of Sheep Creek Road and south of Ester Dome Road) Recommended Approval
OC2008-001 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Amendment. A request by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Economic Development Commission to amend the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), vision, goals, objectives, and strategies. Recommended Approval
OC2008-002 An ordinance amending section 18.50.160 of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Code of Ordinances as it relates to standards for residential cluster development. (Ordinance 2007-42) Postponed to July 31, 2007
OC2008-003 An ordinance amending Title 18 of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Code of Ordinances to allow Tanning Salons as a permitted use in the Multiple-Family Residential / Professional Office District. (Ordinance 2007-43) Recommended Denial
Neighbors Appeal Proposed North Pole Subdivision Fairbanks Daily News Miner July 29, 2007
Concerns over traffic and wetlands have led neighbors to appeal the recent approval of a large subdivision of land near North Pole. Developer Dick Fischer is looking to turn his 151-acre wooded tract, north of Plack Road, into more than 80 smaller home sites.
His single-phase plan was approved this spring by the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s subdivision board, but a number of residents have continued to cry foul. “I’m not against development, I think it’s a good thing for the community,” said Scott Simpson, who lives across the street from Fischer’s proposed Polar Star Subdivision. “But … I’ve got to reinforce that we’ve got to do it right.”
Simpson and a handful of neighbors have appealed the decision to the borough Planning Commission, which will hear the case Tuesday. Fischer has said he bought the land last year from the wife of former Fairbanks city Mayor Jim Hayes. The purchase was made with an eye on dragging an entire neighborhood of duplexes and four-plexes, also owned by Fischer, off Eielson Air Force Base following the end of a 20-year lease between the two.
The subdivision proposal approved by the borough board called for a single-phase property development — meaning Fischer has two years to complete roads, surveying and other pre-construction activity on his property. The Planning Commission will hear neighbors’ appeal of the Polar Star Subdivision Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the borough’s administrative offices on 809 Pioneer Road.
Oil prices set another one-year record Tuesday on expectations that crude inventories fell last week and reports of new violence in Nigeria, a large oil producer and key supplier to the U.S. Investors believe Wednesday's inventory report by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration will show that refiners drew down oil inventories as they continued to increase gasoline production last week, analysts said.
News that a Nigerian construction worker was kidnapped Tuesday added to the bullish tone of a market that seems determined to test last year's record highs, analysts said. "They want to get back to $78.40," the intraday price record set July 14, 2006, said Jack Hunter, an energy trader at FC Stone Group in Kansas City.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery gained $1.31 to $78.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That put futures within striking distance of the intraday record, and of the settlement price of $77.03 set the same day. Oil's advance helped pull other energy futures higher. But news that Total PetroChemicals USA Inc. is reducing output at a Texas refinery to perform maintenance gave investors a rare additional reason to buy gasoline futures. The August gasoline contract, which expires after the close of trading Tuesday, rose 6.34 cents to $2.149 on the Nymex. Expiring futures contracts are often subject to volatile swings as investors square positions.
At the pump, meanwhile, the average national price of a gallon of gas fell 1.4 cents overnight to $2.876, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail prices, which typically lag the futures market, peaked at $3.227 a gallon in late May. Futures at that point were rallying on concerns that refiners were not making enough gas to meet summer driving demand.
"The gasoline market now appears amply supplied with the end of the heavy driving season only about a month away," wrote Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Ill., in a research note. That's part of the reason gasoline futures have fallen nearly 29 cents over the last two weeks.
Analysts say large investment funds—many of which trade on technical factors—have pulled money out of gasoline futures and plowed it into oil futures in recent weeks, another factor driving high oil prices and undermining gasoline futures. Investors are also closely watching OPEC, whose officials have been giving mixed signals about whether the cartel will decide during a September meeting to boost production.
"There is no official price band, but I think I can safely say we would not feel comfortable if the oil price sank to $50 a barrel," said Abdalla Salem el-Badri, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in an interview with Austrian financial daily Wirtschaftsblatt published Monday. "A price above $80 also wouldn't make us particularly pleased."
Associated Press (2007 - NY)
Neighbors’ appeal of Polar Star subdivision plan denied...
A borough commission Tuesday upheld the April approval of plans for a residential subdivision near North Pole, rejecting a neighborhood appeal.
The appeal focused on developer Dick Fischer’s plan to turn his 151-acre wooded tract, located north of Plack Road, into around 80 smaller home sites. The Fairbanks North Star Borough’s subdivision board approved Fischer’s one-phase development plan this spring — a plan that gives Fischer two years to complete roads, surveying and other preparation work in his proposed Polar Star neighborhood.
Neighbors had worried about possible impacts on nearby sloughs and roads. Some had also worried the project could lower surrounding property values, crowd schools and have other effects. Most of those concerns, however, fall outside the scope of borough subdivision laws, and the borough’s Planning Commission decided in a 4-2 vote Tuesday that the subdivision board had acted properly when approving the plan. A handful of neighbors voiced their concerns at Tuesday’s meeting. Bret Kunkle suggested that if laws fall short of requiring that some subdivisions have two roads in and out, the laws should be changed. Elizabeth Lemelin wondered aloud, as did others, whether Fischer planned to build new homes or would introduce existing housing from off-site.
“There hasn’t been a lot of information forthcoming from them, what type of construction we’re going to get,” she said. Commissioner Chris Miller responded that many agencies including the borough oversee projects like Polar Star to ensure they follow local, state and federal regulations. The property eyed for development consists mostly of wetlands, and the Army Corps of Engineers has yet to approve Fischer’s request to introduce more than 80,000 cubic yards of fill for housepads, driveways and septic systems.
“It may be frustrating,” Miller, speaking to residents attending Tuesday’s meeting, said of watching multiple agencies oversee construction projects. “But it’s just as frustrating for the developers.”
Richard Heieren, a surveyor working for Fischer, told commissioners retention ponds would keep construction from displacing surface waters and said he’s “fairly certain” project developers will consider rezoning the land, which is currently zoned “general use” — a designation that puts few restrictions on landowners and developers.
The Polar Star project is the second major residential subdivision seeing action recently. The borough’s subdivision board also approved part of a proposed 160-acre project north of Fairbanks along Yankovich Road last week.
Fairbanks Daily News Miner July 2007
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