Planning commission recommends removing density requirement from Eagle River greenhouse property

The Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend removing a minimum-density requirement from an Eagle River property. The change would let the greenhouse owners build duplexes and triplexes instead of the 13 dwelling units the current zoning requires. The recommendation now goes to the Anchorage Assembly for final action.

The case involves a rezone request for one lot without special limitations. The special limitations, outlined in Assembly Ordinance 2002-129, require a minimum of 13 dwelling units be constructed on the property. The formula is 12 dwelling units per acre, and the property is just large enough that it would require 13 at a minimum.

Land surveyor Jonathan Lang, representing the petitioners Dale Wahlberg and Blythe LLC, told the commission the owners have operated Mile 5.2 Greenhouse on the property for more than 20 years. "The owners intend to develop the property and retain ownership, so they're not going to build it and sell it," Lang said. "And as owners of a greenhouse, they understand landscaping and the importance of natural spaces. It is their intention to landscape the property and to keep it as green as possible."

The department received two public comments against the rezone before the hearing and no review agency comments in opposition. Three members of the public testified at the meeting. They raised concerns about ice conditions from a frozen storm drain, traffic congestion, and the loss of a 20-foot vegetated buffer along the property line.

Lang responded that the frozen storm drain issue was in the Old Glenn Highway right-of-way and was resolved when State DOT thawed the drain. He added that "stormwater runoff from the site onto Santa Maria Drive will be addressed when the proposed residential development is submitted for approval."

Commissioner Jared Gardner, who made the motion to recommend approval, said "a lot of the concerns can and should be addressed through the building permit process, not something that really plays into the criteria for the rezone directly." Gardner also noted that "one of the implications from this rezone with respect to some of the concerns that we heard is that this actually removes an existing minimum requirement for housing density and will allow potentially lower densities on the property than currently required."

Chair Andres Spinelli said before the vote that "the motion will allow lower density, as Commissioner Gardner stated, and that a lot of the drainage plan requirements will be required by the building permit."

The rezone removes a 2002-era requirement that set a minimum density floor rather than a ceiling. Duplexes and triplexes fall well below the 13-unit minimum the special limitations require. The underlying CEB-3 commercial-residential zone would remain in place.