01/07/2024

Land Use

• NEW: New jobs & households data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development: In January 2024 Trends:“Anchorage will add an estimated 2,300 jobs in 2024, and while some industries will reach full recovery after their pandemic lows, the city’s total employment is unlikely to reach pre-pandemic levels this year…While 2024 will bring growth, the city’s long-term trajectory is unclear. One of the key questions is quality of life: Do people want to live there, raise families, invest in housing and the community, and make it their home?” With about 2.64 persons per household in Anchorage, 2,300 jobs might mean demand for around 861 new housing units--will we be able to build that many?

• NEW: Holtan Hills Land Round Two: The disposal is on the January 9th agenda and looks like it will be continued to the January 23rd meeting. The ADN recently gave Halt Holtan Hills a tongue-in-cheek 2023 “NIMBY award.” Paxson Woelber did a more in-depth write up of the entire saga last year (link to Landmine).

• NEW: January 8th at PZC: Parking & Site Access clean-up ordinance: Looks like a lot of minor things, but this is also the AO that drew attention to the fact that parking minimums still exist, just buried in the secret zoning chapter of AMCR 21.90 as “managed guest spaces” (when developments have private streets). It seems like there are a lot of these clean-up ordinances–Is this telling us something about the code’s complexity? Staff report here. 

• NEW: Parks & Rec Bond: Item 10.G.9 on the January 9th meeting agenda. Does not apply to residents outside the parks and rec service area, although they are still welcome to enjoy those facilities. 

• NEW: Tyler Robinson, City Planner talks about the Anchorage housing/building/regulatory landscape on last month’s East Anchorage Book Club Podcast.

• ONGOING: Everybody Goes public restrooms project bond: In the news last October. Item 11.B on the January 9th meeting agenda. AO.

• ONGOING: 3/4 plex reform in Title 23 Building Code: Making it easier to build small scale multiunit construction under residential, rather than commercial standards. Continued from last month, item 13.D on the January 9th meeting agenda. AO.

• ONGOING: Chugach State Park Access Service Area (CASA) bond: “For the purpose of providing public access improvements to roads and for parking to trailheads of the Chugach State Park and within the Chugach State Park Access Service Area…” At the Assembly work session on January 5th. Assembly Member Johnson (around 17:30) explained: “On the point that yeah, there are people who live outside the ARSDA who use roads and services within the ARDSA, but it goes both ways, right…there’s lots of people who live in the ARDSA and take advantage of Chugach Park, I mean, a lot of us do it…I think if I was designing a city today I don’t think i would do it that way, but that’s where we are…” Discussion of how projects were selected around 21:00.

Proposed project list:

• Sunnyside Trail Access

• Basher Trailhead Overflow Vehicle Parking

• Campbell Airstrip Road

• McHugh Peak Trailhead (“This project is for capital improvements (RAP, CS1 Oil, aggregate, calcium chloride, grader, water truck, spreading, compacting) for approximately 1.2 miles of Kings Way Drive, Black  Bear Drive, Snow Bear Drive, and Honey Bear Lane. This is the primary access point for the McHugh Peak trailhead.”)

Transportation

• NEW: AKDOT suing the federal government over the prospect of having to reduce driving pollution: The state is upset over a new rule “...requiring all States with National Highway System mileage to take affirmative steps to set declining targets to reduce on-road CO2 emissions” and has filed suit in Kentucky with a number of other states. See the full complaint here.

• NEW: Spenard Road rehabilitation project open house #3: Note how the bike lane disappears midblock before Mccain loop on the west side of the road heading south in the provided plans–engineering excellence in 2024. See how this compares with the vision of Spenard Corridor Plan, completed just 4 years ago.  Open house is thursday, January 18, 2024 at The Nave, 3502 Spenard Road, Anchorage from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. 

• NEW:  Knik Arm Bridge reinvented as a tunneling project: “The department is also examining the use of tunnels for upgrades of the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Girdwood, Anderson said.” Seriously, what is going on at AKDOT? One positive aspect of this Northern Journal article though–the ACDA board being proactive about managing curb space downtown. 

• NEW: People Mover has selected three finalist sites for a new transit center. More details here.

• NEW:  ARDSA bond is item 10.G.8 on the January 9th meeting agenda.AO.

• NEW: Public safety and transit bond is item 10.G.10 on the January 9th meeting agenda. AO.

• NEW LAST WEEK: AMATS Technical Advisory Committee. January 4th discussion of boundary changes and work with AKDOT.

• ONGOING: Renaming the Port of Alaska is back up for discussion on the January 9th meeting agenda. Item 11.A. AO.