Juneau committee to discuss capping garages and sheds at the size of the main home

A Juneau advisory committee will discuss Wednesday whether the city should cap detached garages, shops and sheds at the size of the main home, part of a rewrite of the city's land-use code.

The Title 49 Advisory Ad Hoc Committee meets at noon in the Assembly Chambers and on Zoom. Accessory uses and temporary uses are on the agenda as discussion topics, and no vote is scheduled.

Meeting materials offer the size limits as "one starting point." An accessory use inside a building would take up no more than 49% of that building's floor area, and a detached garage, shop or shed would be no larger than the main home. The caps would come with room to adjust them through an administrative adjustment. The materials ask whether the limits fit Juneau and whether there should also be height limits.

An accessory use is one that supports the main use on the same property and is clearly secondary to it. Examples in the materials range from a storage shed behind a home to a tasting room at a brewery. Title 49 now defines accessory use in one sentence and sets no rules on size, timing or how many a property can have.

Under the concepts in the materials, an accessory use would have to be on the same property as the main use and could not be established before the main use exists. The code would also list common examples. The materials describe the goal as "clarity, not new barriers."

Accessory dwelling units have their own standards. A 2025 ordinance caps detached ADUs at 1,000 square feet and attached ADUs at 1,000 square feet or 40% of the main home's floor area, whichever is greater.

The committee will also take up temporary uses, which Title 49 does not define. The code's "temporary structure" covers only construction support. Under the concepts in the materials, seasonal sales, special events, traveling sellers and shipping containers in residential areas would need a temporary use permit. Garage sales, moving pods and living in an RV while building a home would not. Anything that does not fit would go through a conditional use permit.

The materials ask how long is too long, and whether Juneau needs to plan for needs such as waterfront uses or recovery after a flood or storm.

Phase 1.5 of the rewrite runs from January 2026 through December 2027. Presentations to the Assembly, a Planning Commission public hearing and Assembly consideration come later, and those steps may overlap, according to the materials, which say an updated work plan and schedule is being developed.