10/27/2024

Land Use

  • NEW:  Simplifying B-3 zoning. Assembly members Brawley, Volland, and Zaletel added additional information as a laid-on-the table item for AO 2024-102 at the 10/22/2024 Assembly meeting. This edit to the dimensional standards table in chapter 21.06 would appear to allow housing to be built to the same height as other uses in Midtown (75 feet). 

  • NEW:  Finding Halloween fun…inside a car wash?In Alaska’s News Source. Per ADN, “trunk or treats” also happened this weekend at the New Hope Food Pantry and First Baptist Church. On this phenomenon in Slate

“America is a country designed for cars rather than people, and the designs of U.S. automobiles are increasingly risky for children in particular. That means the dangers to children walking in pedestrian-unfriendly places are incredibly high on Halloween. One study finds that “pedestrians aged 4 to 8 years [exhibit] a 10-fold increase in pedestrian fatality risk on Halloween…The emergence of churches and malls as venues for alternatives to trick-or-treating pointed to different sources of parental discontent with the Charlie Brown–style free-range approach: fears of physical danger and fears of letting children encounter a situation that the parent could not curate in advance. By the late 1980s, these strands came together to produce trunk-or-treating”

People mover’s role in this discussion: the Zomb-bus.

  • NEW: Fence height variance for new Southcentral Foundation building on Tudor. Case 2024-120. Per the application, the request is for a taller fence for an outdoor space in a detox/crisis stabilization area. One road-related note: “Consideration was also given to placing the outdoor areas away from Tudor Road and Elmore Road and the associated visual stimulation.” 

  • NEW: Confirmation hearing work sessions. On Thursday, 10/31/2024: Public Works Director at 11:30 am, Municipal Engineer at 12:10 pm, and  Planning Director at 1:30pm.

  • NEW: Land use as a reflection of community priorities: Emily Keneggnarkayaaggaq Edenshaw on the Alaska Native Heritage Center from the Cultural Tourism Podcast:

“Something that a lot of people don’t know is that the original location where the Heritage Center was supposed to be built was in Midtown Anchorage in the late 1980s…the location was supposed to be by the Native Hospital where it is today…and there was a campaign that was ran in our local newspaper, ADN, and really the sentiment of that campaign was ‘we don’t want natives in our backyard.’ We had about 50,000 people–50,000 residents in Anchorage–that voted ‘We don’t want the heritage center there…’”

Read more about this history in this 2023 petition to nominate the Alaska Native Heritage Center to the local landmark register (page 21):

“The arguments against the siting of the project in the Far North Bicentennial Park, however, may have been more insidious in their basis than the stated objections of keeping the park natural, avoiding failed commercial ventures, and overcrowding due to the aforementioned busloads of tourists. The approval of three other development projects within the park, including two in the vicinity of the proposed cultural center, occurred at the same time and proceeded without comment, objection, or issue. These development projects included the establishment of the Alaska Botanical Gardens on land adjacent to the proposed heritage center, the construction of a new high school, and a restaurant venue which later failed (Anchorage Daily News, January 10, 1990). When viewed in this light, the objections to the citing [sic] of the cultural center in a central urban area appear to be more racially motivated than the stated objections, with the public rejecting the idea of the cultural center entirely.”

  • ONGOING: Updating Girdwood’s commercial zoning to allow mixed use in selected zones. Case 2024-0110 will be discussed at the 11/4/2024 PZC meeting.

  • ONGOING: 2025 Municipal Budget: The next budget work session will be on November 8th, 2024.The budget timeline for the rest of this process is outlined here, and the budget materials are available here. On this map of proposed 2025 bond projects, it’s hard to tell if there is a strong correlation between the 2040 Land Use Plan, which is supposed to guide growth for the future, and where the MOA will actually be doing new projects. It's also not clear how other plans factor into these project lists; Denali Street, which was identified as a high priority for both bicycling and walking in the Non-Motorized Plan, doesn’t appear on the map.  


Transportation

  • NEW: “Already an air cargo giant, Anchorage’s international airport adds 5 carriers.In the ADN:

“The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has added five new international cargo carriers to its lineup this year, setting the stage for continued growth at an aviation crossroads that’s already among the world’s busiest for shipping, state officials said Thursday.

The additions come as companies pursue new or expanded developments at the Anchorage facility that could support even more of the jumbo cargo jets, including ongoing construction of the $200 million NorthLink Aviation cargo terminal near Kincaid Park. Also, Alaska Cargo and Cold Storage plans to soon begin construction of a large cargo transfer and cold-storage facility west of the airport post office, state officials said. And FedEx, which employs nearly 1,400 people in Alaska, is investing $200 million to enhance its sorting facility in Anchorage, according to its 2024 economic impact report.”

  • NEW: Seasonal speed reductions by AKDOT. Seems like an interesting approach from AKDOT in Juneau, even if it only focuses on posted speed rather than design speed:

Starting November 1, a seasonal speed limit reduction will be in effect on Egan Drive from Sunny Point to the intersection with Mendenhall Loop Road. The speed limit will drop from 55 mph to 45 mph during the winter months, November through January, to improve safety in this area. This change is one part of our ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of serious accidents, especially with darker winter conditions.”



Events

  • ONGOING: Fireweed Lane Rehabilitation Project Open House, now with NEW materials. A community group appears to have taken the lead on developing a vision that focuses on “safe spaces for all travel modes” and a much more people-centered street cross section. The open house will be on 10/30/2024 from 5-7pm in the Stellar Secondary School Multipurpose Room (2508 Blueberry Road). Project page here.

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