Anchorage moves to allow homes on commercial land

Anchorage is one step closer to letting people build houses where the city currently expects storefronts. On Monday, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended two ordinances that would loosen the rules for housing in B-3, the commercial zone that lines many of the city's busier corridors — and both now go to the Assembly.

B-3 is technically a mixed-use zone, meant to let homes and businesses share the same block. In practice, it has been easier to build a motel there than an apartment building of the same size, because housing has faced stiffer barriers than commercial development. The first ordinance chips at that: it would allow single-family homes and manufactured dwellings in B-3, drop minimum lot sizes, and simplify the mixed-use definition.

It's the latest move in a years-long push to build Anchorage out of a housing shortage. The city ended parking minimums in 2022, legalized backyard cottages in 2023, and cleared the way for duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in 2024, all chasing a target of 10,000 new homes in a decade.

The second ordinance, which rewrites B-3's purpose statement and makes self-storage a conditional use, drew the night's only real fight — over a provision requiring permits for large parking lots. Commissioner Radhika Krishna moved to strip it out, citing uncertainty for retailers; it passed, and so did the ordinance.