12/10/2023
Land Use
NEW: South Addition Neighborhood Plan meeting on zoom on December 14th at 7pm. Materials from their November 30th meeting are available here. Page 5/29: “South Addition supports new housing!” A draft resolution supporting 3 & 4plex legalization can be found here.
APPROVED by PZC: Zoning code: Re-legalizing 3/4 plexes in urban neighborhoods was approved at the 12/4/2023 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. Next it will go to the Assembly some time in the next few weeks. Original staff report, updated memo.
APPROVED by ASSEMBLY: Downtown Code UpdateTechnical Edits: AO 2023-120 at the 12/5/2023 Assembly meeting. Staff report.
ONGOING: Short Term Rentals AO 2023-110 coming up soon: “Clerk’s Note: It is the intent of the sponsors to postpone action on AO 2023-110 and continue the public hearing to 12-19-2023.” Unless the Assembly makes new changes before the next meeting, the most recent ordinance proposed to establish an annual $400 fee (unless the property is the owner’s primary residence, the owner is in the military, or the unit is rented to the same person for 180 days or more) among other regulations. For anyone interested in the nuances of this issue, the most frequently cited (and mis-cited) articles on the topic are probably:
“At the median owner-occupancy rate zipcode, we find that a 1% increase in Airbnb listings leads to a 0.018% increase in rents and a 0.026% increase in house prices. Considering the median annual Airbnb growth in each zipcode, these results translate to an annual increase of $9 in monthly rent and $1,800 in house prices for the median zipcode in our data...Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that, while the total supply of housing is not affected by the entry of Airbnb, Airbnb listings increase the supply of short-term rental units and decrease the supply of long-term rental units.”
“We find that over the first 12 months following the start of the regulation, STR regulations reduce Airbnb listings by 9.0% and residential permits by 11.0%....Our results imply that STRs incentivize residential investment, and especially so for housing units that are well suited for short-term renting.”
NEW: The Assembly discussed the housing strategic plan at a work session on December 8th. Draft strategic plan here.
Transportation
NEW: Spenard Road Corridor Parking Assessment. Do you drive around Spenard and have expectations about the cost and convenience of storing your vehicle? “The Municipality of Anchorage Planning Department is conducting a Parking Management Study along the Spenard Road Corridor.” Take the survey here.
NEW: The AMATS Technical Advisory Committee met on December 7th.This included some interesting discussion and a few TIP amendments:
Funding needed for motorized pavement replacement has nearly doubled, this takes funding away from other activities, including upcoming Complete Streets projects that would improve the non-motorized network. This is due to a backlog of deferred maintenance, including drainage and signals, as well as increasing costs. AMATS mentioned they may reconsider how this program is managed given the increasing costs.
Project NMO00012, a Multi use Pathway from Tudor Road to Northern Lights Blvd along the railroad is being removed from the 2023-2026 TIP as the match cannot be found (due to jurisdiction, Parks & Rec funding would be the best candidate, but the money is already obligated).
The committee added a Congestion Management Process update per instruction from FHWA (1950s-style congestion management often calls for expanding lanes to increase the flow of car traffic, other alternatives can include providing other more attractive transportation options).
TIP Amendment 2 will go out for a 45-day public comment period in January.
NEW: There was a special meeting of the Assembly Enterprise & Utilities Oversight Committee on December 6th to talk about snow plowing. It turns out Anchorage has a lot of infrastructure that it can’t really afford under current expectations. From a statement by Assembly member Johnson:
“The question I’m left with is this: is our current strategy working for municipal taxpayers?...We have found ourselves increasingly reliant on contractors to fill these roles. And while there are advantages in maintaining flexibility, there are costs and tradeoffs that come with not having State or Municipal resources available to call on. Going forward, we intend to work together to establish reasonable expectations and determine what resources we need to accomplish them.”
ONGOING: AMATS’ 4th quarter project updates are available for review. A few excerpts:
Seward to Glenn PEL: “It’s estimated that a final PEL will be public during winter 2024/25.”
Northern Lights Boulevard Sidewalk Repairs: “Estimated Construction Year: 2026”
Downtown Trail Connection: “Project will construct a connection between the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail to the Ship Creek Trail in downtown Anchorage...An open house to present the preferred alternative is tentatively scheduled for February 2024”
Fireweed Lane Rehabilitation: “This project would rehabilitate Fireweed Lane from Spenard Road to the Seward Highway and include a road diet, changing Fireweed from 4 lanes to a maximum of 3 lanes (2 with a center turn lane). This project would also include non-motorized improvements.”
ONGOING: AKDOT’s Seward Highway Expansion Project is still accepting comments. The ‘open house’ materials can be found here. (12/21/2021: “Dunleavy has instructed the department to find solutions with the ultimate goal of making a four-lane divided highway between Potter Marsh and Bird.”)
Community
UPCOMING: Winter Solstice Festival at Cuddy Park. Thursday, December 21, 2023 from 5 - 8 pm. More info from Parks & Rec.