08/25/2024
Land Use
NEW: Euclidean zoning’s obsession with conformity. Anytime someone in Anchorage wants to change an old structure or build something new, the first thing the planning department does is scrutinize whether or not the property has any violations of existing zoning. Once a violation is discovered, the property owner is then on the hook to either remove it, apply for a variance, or pay the department $135 per hour to research whether or not it is a legal non-conformity (and thus establish grandfather rights). The cases below are two examples of properties that seem to have been able to establish grandfather rights yet still had to “fix” the problems by asking for variances anyway.
Case 2024-0089: zoning variance required for non conforming landscaping. According to the application, the property owners are trying to change this use to an adult day care but the landscaping is not compliant, so they are required to get a variance (note that without a change of use the existing landscaping appears to be an allowable non-conformity, but with a change of use it becomes unacceptable). The as-built survey in the application dates from May 20, 2024, likely required for the non-conforming determination. The variance was submitted on July 23, 2024, cost $3,965, and is scheduled for the UDC on October 9, 2024. A full building season used up in order to verify landscaping.
Case 2024-0091: zoning variance required for an existing cabin in a setback. According to the application the property owners are attempting to update their property and provide better access for someone with a visual impairment: “The owners…are seeking 2 variances so that they can rehabilitate their existing cabin that falls in the 25-foot drainage setback and the 20-foot front building setback…“It was not until last year, when the owners consulted with a local builder to perform the construction, that they were informed of the possible non-conformance with existing setbacks…one of the owners…has been legally blind for 35 years and will need special access accommodations…” This application cost $710, plus the cost of a recent as-built survey required for the non-conforming determination, plus the cost of the non-conforming determination itself, plus about three months of waiting time. The application was submitted on 7/16/2024, and will go before ZBEA on 10/10/2024.
How many properties in Anchorage have nonconformities, and is the expectation that eventually every single one of them will be researched, cataloged, and then either corrected or approved by a variance process?
NEW: August 27, 2024 Assembly Regular Meeting:
Data collection from short term rental companies: AO 2024-81. From memo AM 655-2024: “We recognize the opposition to a licensing requirement, and the burden it would place on homeowners who invested in improvements and operations costs to further their income by renting rooms or entire homes through these platforms. This new proposal will place no requirements on those individual operators, and only require data from the STR hosting platforms to be included in their room tax returns which they are already providing.” Item 10.G.1.
Etiquette education for trail users: AR 2024-234. “The Anchorage Municipal Assembly calls upon the Municipality to launch a comprehensive education campaign aimed at informing residents about the new regulations pertaining to electric-assisted bicycles and electric-assisted scooters. This campaign should also focus on encouraging proper trail and sidewalk etiquette to promote safety and respect among all users.” Item 11.D.
Waiving the market-conciliation hearing for taxicab permits for 2024. AO 2024-80. AM 620-2024. According to the letter from the transportation inspector, Anchorage demographics are such that the demand for taxis doesn’t change very much each year. This is an interesting indicator of changing fortunes; the original rule to review permits annually was presumably from a time when the population was expanding every few years.
NEW: Request for Proposals: Reconnecting Fairview Corridor Plan posted by NeighborWorks Alaska. Neighborworks seeks a contractor to manage and complete this new plan. From the RFP: “The Fairview community seeks to revitalize the Gambell-Ingra Corridor with economic analysis, active transportation traffic modeling, responsive greenway design and robust public engagement that includes civic dialogue and visualization processes…The Reconnecting Fairview Corridor Plan is funded from the U.S. Department of Transportation “Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program” and the Municipality of Anchorage…This is part of the first-ever federal program dedicated to reconnecting communities cut off from economic opportunities by transportation infrastructure by bringing forward community-led solutions.” The RFP quotes this opinion piece by historian David Reamer: “the city explicitly acknowledged the highway connection in Fairview would “cut the neighborhood and create an island two blocks wide by ten blocks long.”
NEW: Housing & Homelessness Committee meeting on 8/21/2024. Around 9:30 in the meeting, Assemblymember Brawley asks in general if evictions have been trending upwards, staff from the Coalition to End Homelessness responds: “Yeah that is something that we see…we are seeing a lot more calls of people who are facing eviction, not necessarily have been evicted yet–but in terms of entries to homelessness, yes, and we have seen family homelessness increasing as well, and that’s where a lot of those evictions would come into play, with those larger families.”
NEW: ADN Letter: “Aspects of homelessness”: “Look around; has anyone seen a multi-family unit built anywhere in a long time, other than by Cook Inlet Housing Association? I recently watched a news story about a small town in Montana where the biggest employer, a local mill, had to close after decades in business because there was no affordable housing for employees. There is an economic cost to lack of affordable housing, and we are just beginning to feel it here. It’s one of the reasons we have outmigration and hundreds of people living in tents and dilapidated RVs.” From 8/21/2024.
NEW: Peratrovich Park major site plan review: Case 2024-0095. From the application: “The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) is proposing to improve Peratrovich Park by updating the existing infrastructure, improving user experience, and activating the park space within Anchorage’s Downtown context…The proposed improvements are funded through the 2023 Municipal Park Bond of $700,000”.
LAST WEEK: Assembly work session on sales tax proposal on 8/16/2024. Around 46:40 there is a discussion of transaction caps and who gets the 20% property tax relief. The answer is: “It would be for all property owners in the Municipality” (including commercial).
LAST WEEK: Community Councils’ finalized CIP project priorities. Browse here. Note how many of the low density/sprawl neighborhoods prioritize road upgrades/expansions, compared with the urban neighborhoods which seem to prioritize things like sidewalks, stairs, parks, drainage, etc.
NEW: New limitations on real estate assessments. In KTOO: “Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed a bipartisan bill into law last week that puts more guardrails on how local governments assess the value of real estate. Assessments are what provide the basis for property taxes. The newly signed bill, SB 179, requires tax assessors to be accredited by the state, prevents municipalities from raising the assessed value of properties during an appeal process and changes the default for who hears appeals.”
NEW: Anchorage Waterways Council Watershed Perception Survey: “Responses from our "Watershed Perception Survey" provide a good picture of the local community's thoughts, concerns, and suggestions for AWC. The results will be compared to three previous surveys (2010, 2015 and 2020) in order to get a good picture of the condition of local waterways from those who are most familiar with them!” Take the survey here.
NEW: Federation of Community Councils town hall series: “Understanding Their Role in Fostering Civic Engagement.” Monday, September 23, 2024, 7:00pm - 8:00pm, in Person at Wilda Marston Theater and via Zoom. Register here.
Transportation
NEW: Podcast-The Protected Bike Lane Pilot Project | Zoom Room #46 “ATMI producer Taylor Heckart sat down in the studio with Brad Coy, the director of the Traffic Engineering Department at the Municipality of Anchorage, and Anna Bosin, the Regional Traffic Safety Engineer for the Department of Transportation for the State of Alaska. They talked about the massive collaboration required to make this project happen, the benefits that protected bike lanes could bring to the community, and what it means to build infrastructure with non-motorized users in mind.” From the Alaska Teen Media Institute.
NEW: ADN Opinion: “Lessons from Anchorage’s protected bike lane”: “Since the PBL was installed, we’ve seen some clear benefits. Bicyclists report feeling safer and more at ease, which has encouraged more people to try cycling as a mode of transportation. Pedestrians are also enjoying the added space and security provided by the lane. And, contrary to concerns, traffic flow along Sixth Avenue and A Street has not been negatively impacted. The PBL has proven that with thoughtful design, we can create streets that accommodate all users—whether they’re on a bike, on foot or in a car.” Link.
NEW: “Pedestrian-semi collision closes Tudor Road for 4 hours.” In Alaska’s News Source and the ADN: “Police-said” journalism: “A man walked into the road in front of a semitruck on Tudor Road early Wednesday and was seriously injured, Anchorage police said…The pedestrian was brought to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear why he was in the road and police said the investigation is ongoing. No charges or citations were immediately filed, they said.“ As we mentioned last week, AKDOT is gearing up to spend what will likely end up being more than $2 billion to widen a small stretch of the Seward Highway “for safety”. Is there any way that funding could be allocated to fixing AKDOT within Anchorage?
Events
NEW: Nerd Nite: Water: Thursday, August 29th, 6-8pm at King Street Brewing.