Mayor and Assembly Chair Urge Speedup of Land Use Review
22 June 2008
Image via WikipediaTitle 21 is the legislation that governs land use in the Municipality of Anchorage. If you are not quite sure what this is all about, there is excellent background information presented in language you can understand at the Anchorage Citizens Coalition web site. Title 21 has been under review for 6 years. After strong urging from Mayor Begich and Assembly Chair Matt Claman to speed up their review, the assembly’s Title 21 Committee began relying more on Planning and Zoning Commission decisions June 19, and less on committee members’ opinions. Several bullets were dodged, including:
- Heavy snow removal equipment will be stored in industrial zones, not in neighborhood commercial districts.
- Connex storage units will be banned in all but Public Lands and Institutions and Industrial districts, and are to be screened where they are allowed.
- Fabric structures (cloth garages and inflated structures) used as garages, sheds, or warehouses will not be allowed in neighborhoods (of course you can still put up a shelter for your outdoor party.)
Some of the questions that have not been discussed with the public since Clarion’s contract [Clarion and Associates, consultants in land use planning] ended years ago, include:
- How well does the proposed code protect urban wildlife?
- How will developers contribute to public open space, through land set asides or through “fees in lieu?”
- How does the code protect neighborhood character when a home owner decides to build up and out as far they can?
- Will children living in site condos get safe play spaces?
- How will developers involve community councils for project review?
- How does the code respond to a more energy efficient future with better transit and less driving? (Think parking requirements, landscaping and sidewalk widths.)
The Assembly’s Title 21 Committee continues to meet each Thursday morning - 9:30am to 11:30pm in Planning’s conference room at Tudor and Bragaw. They are wrapping up Chapter 5 (Use Regulations,) and should begin Chapter 6 (Dimensional Standards) soon. The following schedule is from just prior to June 19th meeting, so the noted dates for future actions may have been accelerated:
+ On May 20, the Anchorage Assembly provisionally adopted Chapter 21.04, Zoning Districts. This chapter can be downloaded from www.muni.org/planning/prj_title21_Adopted.cfm.
+ The continued public hearing on the Economic Impact Analysis has been postponed from June 9 to August 4 (tentative date). Information about the Economic Impact Analysis can be found at www.muni.org/planning/Econ_Impact_Analysis-T21.cfm.
+ Planning and Zoning Commission deliberations on Chapter 21.07, Development and Design Standards, have been postponed from June 9 to August 11.
+ The Assembly public hearings on Chapter 21.05, Use Regulations and Chapter 21.06, Dimensional Standards and Measurements, which were scheduled for June 10 and June 24 respectively, have been postponed. No new dates have yet been set.
If you have questions about this email or the rewrite project, you can visit the website at www.muni.org/planning/prj_Title21.cfm, or call the department at 343-7921.
Physical Planning Division
Planning Department
Municipality of Anchorage
P. O. Box 196650
Anchorage, AK 99519-6650
E-mail: title21@muni.org
[This information assembled from various communications from Cheryl Richardson at Anchorage Citizens Coalition]
