Anchorage Assembly takes up rezone that would allow denser housing on an Abbott Loop lot

An ordinance before the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday would rezone a 0.20-acre lot at 8940 Arlon Street in the Abbott Loop Community Council area from low-density R-5 to R-3 mixed residential.

R-5 is meant mainly for single-family homes and duplexes at up to five homes per acre. R-3 is a multifamily district meant mainly for apartments and townhouses in low-rise buildings at 15 to 40 homes per acre, according to the Planning Department staff analysis. The lot sits west of Arlon Street and north of Abbott Road, next to single-family homes and a mobile home, with a retail building to the east.

Planners say R-3, unlike R-5, matches the lot's Compact Mixed Residential, Medium designation in the Anchorage 2040 Land Use Plan and adds housing capacity under the plan's infill goal. The plan also marks the area for transit-supportive development, which it describes as corridors where expanded bus service would support a compact, walkable pattern of building.

RMC Properties LLC applied for the rezone March 11. State and city reviewing agencies raised no objections, and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval at a June 1 hearing, finding no public or agency opposition.

The one public comment in the case file supported the change. "This is exactly the type of rezoning that should be taking place to support a more walkable environment in and around the Abbott Loop Town Center," Jason Norris wrote.

Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration also recommends approval. The ordinance would take effect immediately if the Assembly passes it.