10/6/2024
Land Use
NEW: Community and Economic Development Committee (CEDC) discussion on downtown, shadows, and redevelopment on 10/3/2024. During a discussion of potential development around the D street area, Assembly Member Bronga warns about shadows in the city at 1:16:00: “You want 6th avenue to be a nice pedestrian corridor, you don’t want to shade it.” Things get really interesting when Assembly Chair Constant weighs in around 1:21:50 to point out that downtowns with shadows and tall buildings are, in fact possible; and also that the Downtown Community Council rejected outright the recent advocacy to further limit building heights there.
ONGOING: Planned Unit Development (PUD) work session: The Assembly held a work session on 10/4/2024 on AO 2024-83(S) to simplify planned unit developments (PUDs). At 13:55 Assembly member Zaletel explains: “This streamlines a tool, I think that is really a good tool to use. I think the Planned Unit Development has the opportunity to really be the tool for any kind of subdivision or development that is not by-right.” Around 18:10, Assembly member Brawley notes:
“I’m reading through this planning memo that I think we all just got, and I guess basically what I’m seeing is not so much this will cause problems, but ‘we need more time and discussion of if there are problems’ and then some raising of what’s in code and saying we don’t know the implications of changing the code. But I don’t see a strong rationale for what is already in code…I guess what I’m seeing is not a strong rationale for not doing this.”
The planning department memo mentions the department needing “further discussion” and “additional time” for a number of the changes addressed throughout. Assembly member Zaletel makes an observation about the whole process around 22:05:
“This was introduced deliberately at the end of August with a six- week runway so there would be time for the Planning and Zoning commission to weigh in if it wanted to, knowing that they meet twice a month. Additionally I met with Mr Downey shortly after this was introduced and said ‘hey if the planning department has any feedback on this I would really like it’ and I heard nothing until I received this memo today. I'm a little bit still feeling stuck between a rock in a hard place on how to engage with the planning department on these things when I created, deliberately, a longer runway to get the feedback and open into a collaborative process.”
See also Assembly member Bronga at 40:11: “So I completely agree with you, member Zaletel, that if you introduced this [and] it's been out there for that long–your ordinance–that it's pretty appalling to just get the response right now.”
Around 26:00, Assembly Chair Constant provides some even more surprising information:
“I have recently referred to the Ombudsman a kind of set of documents that I have received after review from my team that demonstrates that the planning department, after a neighborhood specific plan was adopted by the assembly, made edits and amendments that changed the context content of the plan that was adopted–which I think is a violation of the law…practically the planning department inserting their opinions and beliefs and values as the final arbiter of policymaking for the Municipality, and I think that this conversation goes toward leadership of the department and what it's been doing, and how it's been conducting itself, and the last minute work…”
NEW: MOA Planning Department’s 10-year targeted plan review: stumbling through tasks and more difficulties with deadlines. Recall that in June of this year, the Assembly tasked the planning department with providing information on a 10-year review of the comprehensive plan through AR 2024-201. Presciently, at that meeting Assembly Member Brawley instructed that this call was: “...a charge to conduct a robust public process, but also to do so on a set timeframe…we want to be clear that the ten year review in the code is not referring to it taking 10 years, it is the frequency of review…”. The AR also directed the department to provide an update on this review within 60 days. Over 90 days later, item 10.F.14 at the 10/8/2024 Assembly Meeting is MOA planning staff’s 10-year work plan memo which states the following: “Although the drafting our work plan was itself delayed and we won't be able to meet your proposed May 2025 goal, we will be able to achieve a robust process within the next 12 months”.
Reading the memo more closely however, the department actually suggests that it will need 12 months for outside consultants to complete the actual work, then an additional 5 months for Planning & Zoning Commission review and hearings, and then additional time for the Assembly to review and approve. So perhaps 12 months is realistically more like 17-20 months. Note the use of passive voice “was itself delayed” in this memo–the bureaucrat’s trick to avoid assigning responsibility. We see the same framing during planning staff’s report at the 10/3/2024 CEDC meeting with mention of how this assigned task passively “fell through the cracks”.
NEW: 2025 Budget for the Municipality of Anchorage has been released. In the ADN: “Anchorage Mayor LaFrance lays out $637M city spending plan for 2025” (for reference, the 2024 budget was $597.9 million). Some of the specifics:
“ Directing $2 million to fund rapid rehousing of people experiencing homelessness, plus fully funding the city’s winter shelter plan.”
“Increasing pay for snow removal staff by 5.7%.”
“A proposed tax levy of $3.5 million to replace broken and outdated heavy fleet vehicles and large equipment, including dump trucks and equipment used for snow removal, such as graders. It would allow the city to buy six to seven a year.”
On capital projects: “It includes $4.5 million in projects for traffic calming and safety and $7.3 million in trail and park improvements, including $2.9 million in renovations to Town Square Park in downtown Anchorage and $450,000 for design and permitting of a project to improve access to Chugach State Park at the Basher Drive trailhead.”
Per the Assembly website, the Assembly is scheduled to approve the final budget on November 19th after three worksessions on October 11th, 25th, and November 8th; it will hold two public hearings on October 22nd and November 6th.
ONGOING: MOA application to the HUD Proactively Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO) grant. Press release here, application available here, and submit public comment here. Public meeting will be on October 7, 2024. 6:00-7:00pm Loussac Library Wilda Marston Theater, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage. Click here to join the meeting online.
Transportation
FYI: AMATS Technical Advisory Committee and Policy Committee meetings are canceled for October.
NEW: Continuing institutional failures at AKDOT: “State transportation department disguises, downplays mistakes” From Dermot Cole: “The department is still not telling the whole truth about the State Transportation Improvement Plan and the August redistribution debacle. The DOT deception machine is working overtime, trying to conceal failures by pretending they didn’t happen and simply proclaiming victory.” See FHWA’s letter, which lists corrective actions to STIP Amendment 1 and the projects that must be removed, here. Notably, the Seward Highway widening project is one of the projects excluded from STIP approval.
NEW: Fireweed Lane Rehabilitation Project Open House. “The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, in cooperation with the Municipality of Anchorage, is hosting an open house for the Fireweed Lane Rehabilitation project.” DATE: Wednesday, October 30,2024, 5:00pm-7:00pm at Stellar Secondary School Multipurpose Room (2508 Blueberry Road). The purpose of this project is to "rehabilitate Fireweed Lane from Spenard Road to the Seward Highway and include a road diet, changing Firewed from 4 lanes to a maximum of 3 lanes."
ONGOING: “Local leaders grapple with how to improve Anchorage roadways after 13 pedestrian deaths” In Alaska Public Media:
“And while Anchorage’s pedestrian deaths are on the rise, it’s not the only city facing this problem. ‘We are in the midst of a pedestrian safety crisis in the U.S.,” said Raveena John with Smart Growth America, a national nonprofit that works with communities to improve transportation and land use infrastructure. ‘We are at a 40-year high in terms of pedestrian fatalities. There’s been a 75% increase in the number of people who’ve been killed while walking on the roads since 2010.’ John attributes the rise to a focus from traffic planners on getting drivers from point A to point B the fastest, and a focus from car manufacturers to make larger vehicles, as opposed to the smaller sedans of the past.”
ONGOING: Traffic Violence in Anchorage: Only one death on Anchorage roads last week, this time not on an AKDOT right-of-way (but on a road with similar characteristics of design). See also two more opinion pieces in the ADN: “It’s time to fix our dangerous roads” and “Facing the facts this pedestrian safety month”.
ONGOING: People Mover service changes coming October 28, 2024. “People Mover is reducing service this October due to significant workforce shortages and challenges.” See details here.
Events/Surveys
ONGOING: AKDOT Safety Survey available here. “This survey is being conducted by the Alaska Dept. of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF). This survey is focused on the Anchorage community. We will be developing campaigns in other communities across the state in the coming months.”
ONGOING: Chugiak-Eagle River Transportation Strategy Survey “The Municipality of Anchorage is looking for feedback on long range transportation values and priorities as part of the Municipality’s Long Range Transportation Strategy.”