Anchorage ordinance would put all Assembly license and assessment hearings under one set of rules

Anchorage residents fighting a marijuana license suspension, an alcohol license protest, or a special assessment on their property would face one uniform set of hearing rules under an ordinance headed to the Anchorage Municipal Assembly for reading Tuesday, Aug. 18.

The ordinance, submitted by Assembly Chair Anna Brawley, would create a new Chapter 2.90 in Anchorage Municipal Code covering every administrative and quasi-judicial matter the Assembly hears. It sets common rules on evidence, bars Assembly members from ex parte contact with interested parties once an item is published on the agenda, and requires members with a substantial financial or private interest to step aside.

The proposal also fixes deadlines, including exchanging exhibit lists, witness affidavits and evidence by the addendum deadline, typically five business days before a proceeding, with objections due at least 24 hours out. For matters going through formal adjudication, a written decision must be issued no later than 21 days after closing statements unless the chair grants an extension, and appealable decisions must note a 30-day window to appeal to Superior Court.

Certain matters would always take the stricter formal adjudication track unless waived, such as suspension or revocation of a marijuana license; in those cases parties gain subpoena rights through the municipal clerk, served at least ten business days before the hearing.

The accompanying Assembly memorandum from Brawley says the rules are now scattered across the code, with each case type carrying its own timelines and expectations. "The ordinance does not change the Assembly's authority in these areas," the memorandum says. It also clarifies the process the mayor and Assembly already use to remove members of the Board of Ethics.

Removal of the mayor, an Assembly member, or a school board member stays outside the new chapter, remaining governed by separate code sections, including section 2.70.030, the subject of a July 17 Assembly worksession.

At its May 6, 2025, meeting, then-Chair Christopher Constant told colleagues, "We are constantly figuring out what this means because we are generally a political body and find ourselves in a quasi-judicial position on alcohol licenses and marijuana licenses."

A reading is not a vote on passage. **The decision is nearly two months off.** The Assembly has set the public hearing on the ordinance for Oct. 6, and residents can submit written comment before then at the municipality's testimony page.