Anchorage's Davis Park, a 78-acre refuge of trails and athletic fields in Mountain View, isn't on city land. Now its owner, the U.S. Air Force, says it has to start charging market rent, which documents say could be hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
That came as a big surprise to city park officials, who recently discovered that the park's lease, for $0, had expired some years back. They thought nothing of asking Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to renew the no-cost lease and took steps to add the park to the city's 20-year master plan.
But now the city is on the hook for a $10,000 to $12,000 appraisal to determine the park's worth. The draft master plan for Davis Park says that if the fair-market value rate is the same as a neighboring 12-acre snow dump, the lease could cost the city $775,000 a year. That would likely lead to more rent than the city can afford, said parks chief John Rodda, though he added that he couldn't predict what the appraisal will show.
The Air Force says it's stuck. A federal law, not reflected in the original lease, requires it to charge fair-market rent.
Both sides stressed they want to work out an arrangement that involves the exchange of goods and services, not cash.
"We're looking for an in-kind, non-cash solution," said Al Lucht, deputy director of civil engineering on JBER. "We're being very creative here, let's leave it at that."
The issue of the lease has marred efforts to write a master plan for Davis Park, which will guide the park's development for the next two decades. Residents and community organizations in Mountain View -- one of the city's poorest urban neighborhoods -- have been meeting with JBER officials since early 2015 to hash out ideas for improving and expanding the park. Among the long-term goals are a Frisbee golf course, a skate park and a bouldering wall. 
Much of the energy in recent years has zeroed in on making the park a bigger draw for neighbors, not just outside groups.
"The needle is definitely pointing in the right direction," said David Barney, clubhouse manager for the Mountain View Boys and Girls Club.
He added, told by a reporter of the lease issue: "I'd hate to have something slow that down right now. I think it's becoming more of a destination."
In the summer, rugby and ultimate Frisbee players populate the park's athletic fields. A small market sets up in the lower parking lot. Dog walkers use the network of trails. Homeless camps pop up in the woods, though the neighborhood and police have intensified efforts to remove them in recent years.
Every so often, huge cargo jets lumber overhead.
It's unlikely the land could be anything other than a park or open space, as long as the military is next door. Davis Park lies directly south of JBER's north-south runway, placing it squarely in what the Air Force calls an "accident potential zone 1." That means housing or large structures attracting crowds, like concert stages, aren't allowed.
"The development of that area is very limited," Lucht said. "The fair-market value might not be as high as some folks think it should be."
According to master plan documents, Davis Park was used for military housing between the 1940s and 1960s. The city first asked for a no-cost lease in 1976. The military awarded it the next year, to be renewed at five-year intervals.
The lease most recently expired in the late 2000s, Rodda said. But, apparently, neither JBER nor the city immediately took steps to renew it.
It was only as discussions began about park's master plan that the city asked to renew the lease -- "not thinking or knowing that we would be in a position of having a fee basis," Rodda said. He said word of the change in federal law, requiring the military to charge fair-market value for underused properties, came as a surprise.
Jim Hart, a spokesman for JBER, said the legal problem with the current Davis Park lease was discovered as part of an environmental impact study related to stationing F-22 jets at the base.
In October, Air Force Col. Brian Bruckbauer, JBER commander, wrote a letter to the city saying JBER would withhold its comments on the master plan until the lease had been negotiated.
Lucht, of JBER, said the military is in a tough position between strict federal policies and the park's place in a low-income community. He recalled that during the administration of Mayor Mark Begich, who left office in 2008, city officials knew the lease would be expiring and asked what the military could do to keep it free.
"It's always been politically sensitive," Lucht said of Davis Park.
If the fair-market price of the park is as high as feared, Rodda said the city will push for an in-kind arrangement reflecting the investments made in the property over the years -- playing fields, a basketball court, trails and a community garden, as well as annual maintenance.
Lucht said military officials are also interested in the idea. He said there's also a chance Davis Park could be incorporated into JBER's recently launched community partnership program, where the military signs agreements with the city or other community organizations to share resources or services.
Either way, he and other JBER officials said no one wants to take the park away.
"We definitely want to find a win-win for us and for the community," said Bruckbauer.