Anchorage housing overlay hearing carries to Oct. 6 after divided testimony

The Anchorage Assembly heard nearly 90 minutes of sharply divided testimony Tuesday on an optional housing overlay covering roughly 30,000 parcels, then ran out of time without debating amendments or voting.

The Missing Middle Housing Opportunity Overlay would let participating property owners along transit corridors use smaller lots, greater lot coverage, reduced setbacks and taller buildings to add duplexes, townhomes and other relatively small housing types.

Supporters said Anchorage needs to make room for young and working residents where roads, transit and utilities already exist.

"I don't want to leave Alaska," said Oliver Tyrell, a Mountain View resident studying to become a social worker. "I want to contribute to my community that helped raise me."

Critics did not present a similarly unified position. Some opposed the scale of the zoning changes, while others asked the Assembly to narrow them. David Wigglesworth, a North Star resident speaking for the Anchorage Housing Workgroup, requested that the overlay exclude seismic hazard zones 4 and 5.

"This is not an anti-housing request," Wigglesworth said. "This is more about protecting life and property."

Other testimony addressed parking, emergency access, snow storage, sunlight, lot coverage and whether single-family R-1 and two-family R-2 zones should remain in the overlay. Supporters argued that excluding those areas would leave too little land to make a meaningful difference in Anchorage's housing shortage.

The Assembly did not settle any of those questions. At 11:58 p.m., Chair Anna Brawley said she did not want to shorten anyone's testimony. Members continued the hearing to Oct. 6 without objection, with people still waiting to speak.