05/05/2024

Land Use

  • May 7, 2024 Assembly Meeting

    • NEW: AKDOT’s Minnesota Cheese Grater Wall: AR 2024-165 calls for AKDOT to “Remove the center wall structure along Minnesota Drive between Benson and Northern Lights Boulevards as soon as possible. If removal of the center wall structure is not feasible, the Assembly requests ADOT&PF change the construction material to be more transparent and visually attractive.” Furthermore it requests that AKDOT “Work with community stakeholders and the public to design pedestrian improvements including adding two crosswalks to the missing sections at Minnesota Drive at both Benson and Northern Lights Boulevards”. We couldn't find any record of AKDOT doing any public engagement before they put up the fence in the first place.   

    • ONGOING: Creating Potter Marsh Watershed Park: AO 2024-48 and AO 2024-49. From the memo: “The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) owns, and Heritage Land Bank (HLB) manages 10 parcels, slightly over 100 acres, just east and uphill of Potter Marsh (Appendix A). The withdrawal and transfer of these 10 parcels will coincide with an approximately 200-acre acquisition creating the 300-acre Potter Marsh Watershed Park.” Items 10.G.3 and 10.G.4

    • NEW: New “express library” at Dimond mall: The Assembly will consider a lease to place a mini library at the Dimond mall. From the memo: “The Library Express Unit will be located in Space K-040B within the Dimond Center. This express library offers self-serve automated book lockers which allow Anchorage Public Library patrons to pick-up holds and return items with their library card providing a much-needed service point in south Anchorage.” Item 10.G.6.

    • ONGOING: Chugach Service Area Access (CASA) projects: $4,000,000 for Sunnyside Trail Access. Memo and an older memo from the 1/9/2024 meeting with more detail: “This project is for the reconditioning and paving of Canyon Road from Echo Canyon Road to the Chugach State Park boundary. Road improvements would include the ability to park on the side of the road. This is the primary access point for the Sunnyside trailhead accessing the backside of Flat Top and Rabbit Lakes within Chugach State Park.” Item 10.G.11.

    • NEW: Defining Electric Bicycles in code: AO 2024-51. From the memo: “Currently our code classifies e-bikes as either “low-speed” or “high-speed”. This ordinance proposes to do away with this subclassification and instead set a reasonable benchmark of 500W for determining how an e-bike should be regulated. The new standard would treat e-bikes of 500W or less as bicycles, while anything more powerful than 500W would be considered a motor-driven cycle for the purposes of code.”  Item 10.G.12.

    • ONGOING: Allowing seating on Downtown sidewalks: AO 2024-43 will be open for public hearing. Memo. Item 14.F.

  • ONGOING: Assembly AO on legislative authority: The Assembly held a work session on 5/3/2024 to discuss AO 2024-45, an ordinance which clarifies how the Assembly can make legislative policy changes related to zoning. Based on the presentation slides, the bigger picture seems to be: “We need a path to adopt legislative policy actions in title 21 that initiate conforming amendments.” Assembly memo on the item, and the planning department’s prickly response. This item will be 14.B at the May 7, 2024 Assembly meeting

  • ONGOING: Site Access Saga: More discussion of the complex and long-discussed site access regulations at the Community & Economic Development Committee meeting on 5/2/2024. For reference, AO-2024 was amended last month to postpone the most restrictive new site access rules from coming into effect until late 2025. 

Based on the recording, discussion at the CEDC meeting centered around a site access test fit report commissioned by the Municipality to demonstrate that the new site access standards would not impede development within the “specific parameters set by the MOA Planning Department”. One key sentence (with emphasis added): “The surface parking layouts in all configurations tested, in front or behind the buildings, may not be viable without being granted relief from code if site conditions exist that were not included in the site test fit scenarios.” Some of the conditions not included in the scope of the report appear to be things like moderate changes in slope across the site, existing zoning landscaping requirements, utility easements, special limitations zoning, and irregularly-shaped lots (See appendix C of the document for a number of recommendations and other needed changes to Title 21. At 17:29, Assembly Member Brawley noted that she would like to look at including these additional recommendations in any future changes on this subject).

In a surprisingly direct public comment at the end of the meeting, the vice president of development for Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA) speaks to the entire committee:

 “This is not benign, it is actually impacting the ability to move residential projects forward, so this is why we keep coming forward to you...Staff concludes that this study proves out that there’s no problems with the ordinance…I’ve come to the exact opposite conclusion. Until we are confident that the site plans demonstrated here are viable and feasible, we should not be coming to that conclusion…I would ask you to delete it right now, replace it as necessary, rather than this constant tweaking, modifying…I see everyone sitting around when we read this stuff and no one seems to understand it…” 

For reference, CIHA had made other written comments earlier this year on repeated issues with the entire process: 

We also want to observe the broader issue at work here: People simply cannot understand what the Parking and Site Access amendments say. Even experts have trouble making sense of the jargon and cross-references. Anchorage residents – English and non-English speakers – cannot meaningfully participate in the planning process if they cannot understand or access the zoning code.”

This continued pattern of comments and responses could be a sign that there might be some issues with the way municipal departments are producing, testing, and evaluating new regulations.

Transportation

  • PASSED: AMATS Technical Advisory Committee on 5/2/2024. Agenda.

Events

  • ONGOING: May is Bike Month and May 17th is Bike to Work Day.

  • UPCOMING: Protected Bike Lane Ribbon Cutting: May 30, 2024 from 4:45pm–5:30pm PAC Plaza: W 6th Ave & F St. project page.

  • UPCOMING: City Nerd Nite: Transportation will be May 30, 2024 at Akela Space downtown. 6-8pm.

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04/28/2024