Anchorage zoning board backs letting director approve bigger setback fixes without a hearing

An Anchorage board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend letting the planning director approve larger building encroachments without a public hearing, tripling the size that can be waved through administratively.

Under the change, the director could sign off on setback encroachments up to 15 percent of the requirement, up from 5 percent now. That matters because the two paths are very different for a property owner. An administrative approval costs $135. A variance, which requires a public hearing, runs from $710 to nearly $4,000 and typically takes three to four months. The trade is speed and cost against public notice: a variance means neighbors get mailed notice and a chance to testify, while an administrative approval skips that, with the only recourse being an appeal. The department says 10 variance cases over the past decade could have gone the faster route under the higher threshold.

The board added two changes of its own. Member Jonathan Lang, a surveyor, wanted the rules to cover builder mistakes, not just survey errors. "I find errors that the builders make all the time, like not following the stakes that I set or building without getting a survey," he said. And member Christopher Schutte moved to drop new language that would have let the director kick a denied application into the full variance process, saying the existing automatic appeal is enough.

The proposal also loosens what counts as a hardship justifying a variance, to include survey errors and oddly shaped lots.

The board took no public testimony Thursday. The Planning and Zoning Commission holds a hearing Sept. 21, and the Assembly has the final say.