05/19/2024
Land Use
Planning & Zoning Commission on May 20, 2024:
ONGOING: HOME zoning reform returns to the Planning & Zoning Commission as item E.1, this time with a few more attachments and documents (including 4 attachments of comments and 2 legal opinions).
NEW TO PZC: Comprehensive Plan changes related to HOME in case number 2024-0067. From the Assembly memo on page 35/46: “...the economic and community conditions in the Municipality have changed, particularly around the increasing urgency and scale of our housing shortage, from lack of affordable housing, to an extremely tight housing market, to a sustained slow-down of housing production over the last decade…The sponsors are not proposing changes to the vision or goals, and propose only targeted changes to the Land Use policies in both documents, to bring the “how” into better alignment with the “what.”
From the staff report: “In general, staff does not believe the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments are necessary to address changing projections, new issues, or omissions not already addressed within Anchorage 2020 or the 2040 LUP.” Based on our review, none of the materials provided by the planning department throughout the process so far have demonstrated that the existing planning documents are managing changing conditions successfully. For general reference, see home transaction data from the US Federal Housing Finance Agency and housing building permit data from the HUD SOCDS Building Permit Database:
2001 [Year the 2020 plan was adopted] Anchorage housing price index: 124.07. Number of housing unit building permits that year: 1,965.
2017 [Year the 2040 LUP was adopted] Anchorage housing price index: 225.75. Number of housing unit building permits that year 1,019.
2023 Anchorage housing price index for Q4 2023 [most current data available]: 300.89 Number of housing unit building permits that year: 215.
NEW: Headaches for adaptive reuse: conditional use & variance required to relocate an existing bank a few hundred feet into a vacant building in the Abbott “Town Center” (PZC case 2024-003). Recall that as imagined by the proponents of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan and enacted by the 2040 plan, town centers were supposed to be “...focal points for locating community and civic activity, and government, commercial, entertainment, cultural, and residential uses. They exhibit the highest degree of interaction between different land uses.“ In this case, a bank branch that is currently in the supermarket is unable to move into an empty medical office nearby because the land is zoned industrial, which requires extra reviews for banking activities. From the application: “The existing building and site already meet all current Title 21 requirements and we have not caused any changes to violate any Title 21 requirements except for the fact that financial institutions are only allowed to be 5,000 sq ft or less in the I-2 Zoning district. We will be submitting a variance to allow the 800 sq ft increase over this 5000 sq ft maximum area for a financial institution…It is unfortunate that this area of Anchorage is zoned incorrectly and should have a rezone but that has not taken place yet even though this has been pursued by the MOA and may continue to be evaluated in the near future.”
For more context: according to action item 9-3 in the 2040 Land Use Plan, the area in question was supposed to be rezoned from I-2 to B-3 immediately after the adoption of that plan in 2017. However, in a memo from an assembly work session on implementation progress of the 2040 LUP last year, the planning department claimed that: “Planning staff reached out to property owners within this corridor to gauge interest in rezoning their properties to B-3. Very little interest was shown from property owners and this item wasn't pursued further.” Page 29 of the application packet does include a January 2023 letter from the planning department to property owners proposing a no-fee rezone, but this raises additional questions such as 1) what caused the 5-6 year delay in proposing this targeted rezone and 2) how did property owners respond. A recent op-ed opined that “It’s time for the Assembly to quit dodging public input and grabbing for power and instead follow our adopted Comprehensive Plan to invest in targeted rezoning”--considering this case, how has the targeted rezoning strategy been working out so far? This conditional use process has so far cost $4,720 in fees and around 8 months in time starting with a public meeting in September 2023.
NEW: Keep Girdwood housing complicated: requiring a conditional use to build a townhouse-style triplex on a 1.25 acre lot with two existing duplexes (case 2024-0049). From the staff report: “The GR-1 district requires a conditional use permit for residential lots with between four and eight dwelling units per acre. This is a request for conditional use approval of 5.6 dwelling units per acre on one lot in the GR-1 district.” After a fee of $4,720 and almost 7 months since the pre-application meeting, the planning department’s two recommended conditions for approval are that 1) the application be kept on file in the planning division and the notice of zoning action, and that 2) the resolution of approval be filed with the State of Alaska.
From chapter 3 of title 21: “The conditional use approval procedure is intended for situations where a use may or may not be appropriate in a district, depending on the specific location, the use characteristics, and potential conditions to decrease the adverse impacts of the use on surrounding properties and/or the community-at-large.” Is a conditional use for residential development, including all the extra costs in time and money it involves, an appropriate requirement when housing in Girdwood is already in such short supply?
Assembly Regular Meeting on May 21, 2024
NEW: A small win for making it easier to use non-conforming lots: AO 2024-54 would allow the limited development of small, non-conforming lots under shared ownership with larger ones next door. An overview of the existing problem from the assembly memo: “When two adjacent lots are under single ownership and one is a legal nonconforming lot due to its small size (less than 5,500 sq. ft), they are [currently] required to be treated as a single undivided parcel…The code provision that requires this result has existed in the Code for at least 40 years, and does no longer align with the goals of the 2040 Land Use Plan to allow for denser developments and increasing the housing supply.” Minimum lot size restrictions, long a favorite tool for excluding unwanted groups, would not be changed by this ordinance.
One interesting note on process–the memo explains that this proposed ordinance “…was developed in consultation with Planning Department staff and is a straightforward solution to a problem that arose with constituents in our District” and thus appears to not have been required to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission (another recent example was AO 2024-16, also written by the planning department, which also got a PZC waiver). This is in stark contrast to some of the other recent zoning reforms in which planning staff have always seemed to favor more public process at each turn. The real question here may be: who pulls the strings to decide which zoning reforms are “straightforward solutions” that merit a PZC review waiver and which zoning reforms are not? Item 14.M.
NEW: Foreclosed properties for sale and for retention as municipal wetlands: Items 10.G.1 and 10.G.2 for introduction. From the memo on properties for sale: “All of the properties in attached Appendix A were acquired via Clerk’s Deed, signed on January 29, 2024, under case 3AN-21-048880CI”. From the memo on properties for retention: “The retention of these parcels will contribute to the environmental health of the lower section of the Campbell Creek watershed.”
ONGOING: Road Bonds: Items 10.G.4, 14.C, 14.D (includes traffic calming), and 14.E (CASA) for introduction (the community already voted on these, they are included here for reference).
ONGOING: New Potter Marsh Park: Public hearing items 14.G, 14.H, and 14.I
ONGOING: New pop-up library at Dimond mall. Public hearing item 14.J. Assembly memo.
ONGOING: E-Bike Regulation: AO 2024-51 is public hearing item 14.K. From the Assembly 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”
ONGOING: Clarifying the assembly’s legislative powers: AO 2024-45 is public hearing item 11.F. From the memo “The proposed ordinance is intended to clarify the process for making conforming amendments to the official zoning map recommended or necessary due to a proposed amendment to the comprehensive plan or text of Title 21 of the Anchorage Municipal Code, “Land Use Planning.”
ONGOING: No turn on red downtown: AO 2024-14 is continued public hearing item 13.A. Assembly Memo
Transportation
NEW: AK DOT&PF providing data on pedestrian & bicycle counts as part of the Seward-Glenn Highway project. From the report: “This study is, to the team’s awareness, the first attempt beyond annual “Bike to Work Day” events to comprehensively count pedestrians on Anchorage surface streets (although the Anchorage region does have some automated bicycle counters on regional trails). The AMATS Non-Motorized Plan advocates for comprehensive and ongoing counts, so this PBS is a first step in illustrating what might be done in the future.”
NEW: Protecting traffic flow around the Abbott Town Center: A “context sensitive solutions'' project nominated by AK DOT&PF for Academy Drive off Abbott road:“The east/west flow of traffic between Abbott Road and Brayton Drive is currently interrupted by a stop sign with a 90-degree turn at the intersection…The 90-degree intersection configuration may be replaced with one that allows more free-flow traffic conditions. The project would improve east/west traffic connectivity, provide more efficient traffic flow, and better accommodate potential traffic volume increases which may be generated by a future extension of Academy Drive to the west beneath the Seward Highway.” So they’re conceding that expanding road infrastructure does play a causal role in increasing traffic volumes? Note that the materials (page 19/61) predict future daily driving trips on Academy drive will almost sextuple to 12,956 trips per day by 2048. At the 5/20/2024 PZC meeting.
NEW: Lois Drive & W 32nd street changes. Another “context sensitive solutions” project in Spenard. From the report: “Based on recommendations from the traffic department the lane width will be reduced from 11 feet to 10 feet…the Traffic Department requested that traffic calming measures be investigated as part of the project.” At the 5/20/2024 PZC meeting.
NEW: AMATS Policy Committee and TAC Joint Work Session on Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Projects on May 20, 2024 at 3pm. From the AMATS email: “AMATS PC and TAC will be discussing the Highway Safety Improvement Program projects in TIP table 7 as well as potential nominations for future HSIP projects.” From the Federal Highway Administration: “The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is a core Federal-aid program with the purpose to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned roads and roads on tribal land. The HSIP requires a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads with a focus on performance”
LAST WEEK: Bike to work day on 5/17/2024: “Thousands participate in Anchorage Bike to Work Day 2024: Bike Anchorage on Friday anticipated 3,500-4,000 riders to be counted during the day’s two commute times.” From the ADN.
LAST WEEK: AMATS Policy Committee on May 16, 2024. Video recording. Discussion of the Minnesota cheese grater wall starts around minute 25, bike lane pilot presentation starts around minute 51.
Finance
NEW: Tax abatement bill SB 179 passed in Juneau. Per the ACDA press release: “SB179 empowers Alaskan municipalities and cities to independently determine how best to provide incentives that stimulate development within their communities.” From the bill text: “A municipality may by ordinance permit deferral of payment of taxes on all or some types of economic development property for a designated period.”
Events
NEW: H.O.M.E. Party sponsored by the Anchorage Housing Club on Wednesday May 22nd from 6-8pm at the Nave at 3502 Spenard Road. From the flier: “Do you care about abundant housing in Anchorage? Do you wonder why zoning reform matters?...The HOME PARTY is a fun & interactive event featuring community dialogue, great food, and practical calls to action.”
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.