Anchorage wetlands ordinance would exempt map changes from the city's permit fees

Ordinance AO 2026-110, updating Anchorage's wetlands plan, goes to a public hearing Oct. 6. It would let the Planning Director administratively redraw wetlands map boundaries where wetlands have moved or dried up.

The city's zoning fee schedule is attached as Exhibit H, not because fees are changing but because they no longer fit. The Planning Department found it assumes such changes go through the Assembly, "and this assigns a higher cost." Staff added a subsection exempting map changes from that fee structure.

Alcohol license applicants pay $1,180 plus a per-square-foot charge capped at $4,720, under a schedule effective Aug. 13, 2025. The structure is not new: 2023 schedules used the same fees, formalized in Ordinance AO 2025-87.

Rates run from 60 cents per square foot for breweries, wineries and distilleries to $3 for beverage dispensary, tourism, outdoor recreational lodge and destination resort licenses. Golf course licenses pay a flat $3,540 regardless of size.

The Planning and Zoning Commission heard no public opposition.