A fourplex would install no landscaping under this Anchorage ordinance

A builder putting four homes on an Anchorage lot would install no landscaped buffer along the property line, under an ordinance headed to public hearing Oct. 6.

The buffer the code requires now is substantial: a planting bed averaging 15 feet wide and never narrower than 10, with two trees and six shrubs for every 20 feet of property line, at least half the trees coniferous. Under the ordinance a fourplex installs none of it.

The code lists what that landscaping is for: controlling runoff and erosion, cutting noise and dust, and protecting air and water quality.

Today the exemption covers only single-family and two-family lots outside a subdivision. The ordinance extends it to any lot developed for four dwelling units or fewer, plus unit lots. The Planning Department drafted it, and the Assembly chair introduced it at Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's request under her 10,000 Homes in Ten Years strategy.

It has drawn almost no attention. Nine agencies returned no comment or no objection. One member of the public commented, a road service area representative who wrote that his board had "no concerns or comments at this time." At the Planning and Zoning Commission's July hearing, the chair opened public testimony and the minutes record none. The commission recommended approval 7-0.

The commission found the change could encourage more missing middle housing. The 2040 Land Use Plan the department cites also says compact housing measures should be determined "through a meaningful collaborative public process" and should meet neighborhood compatibility standards.

Minimum tree requirements still apply, and lots platted before 2014 keep a separate exemption.