Mélisa Babb
Planning Director
15 articles · 9 transcripts · 1 clips
Mélisa R. K. Babb is the Planning Director for the Planning Department within the Office of Community and Planning Development for the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska.
Affiliations
Sunshine Mall owners ask city to vacate easements under 4th Avenue arcades
Sunshine Mall owners want Anchorage to vacate two downtown easements to enclose the 4th Avenue arcades for housing and shops.
Anchorage's 2052 transportation plan calls for a Fairview Bypass and more frequent buses
Anchorage's 2052 transportation plan calls for a Fairview Bypass, buses every 30 minutes and a rebuilt Muldoon. The Assembly weighs in starting Nov. 17.
Seward-Tudor interchange rebuild estimated at $96.5 million
The state's draft design puts the Seward Highway–Tudor Road interchange rebuild at $96.5 million. So far, only the $5 million for design is approved.
Anchorage planners seek delays on three hearings, including Tudor interchange
Anchorage planners asked to push three Nov. 9 hearings into December. It would be the second delay for the Seward Highway-Tudor Road interchange review.
Planners say Missing Middle overlay fits Anchorage's comprehensive plan
Anchorage planners say the Missing Middle overlay fits the city's comprehensive plan, a plan they also say contradicts itself. The Assembly gets the final word.
Planners back rezone that would let two Anchorage homes be replaced with duplexes
Planners back letting two Ivan Drive homes become duplexes. Current zoning bars duplexes on lots that small, the owners say. The commission weighs in Monday.
Anchorage developers still build parking without a mandate, planners say
Anchorage stopped requiring parking in 2022. Developers kept building it anyway, mostly about as much as before, a city Planning Department memo says.
Anchorage Assembly vote could decide whether new housing rules reach quake-hazard zones
The Assembly votes Nov. 4 on letting more duplexes and townhomes into much of Anchorage. Open question: whether that includes the ground that slid in 1964.
Anchorage Assembly takes up rezone for 44 townhomes sitting on land zoned for shops
Forty-four Anchorage townhomes sit on land zoned for shops and offices. The Assembly takes up a fix Nov. 4. The city says no one objected, but one neighbor did.
Planners say Anchorage's capital budget isn't strongly tied to its growth plan
Anchorage planners say the city's capital budget isn't strongly tied to its growth plan. Since 2017, 1% of Bowl development landed where the plan wanted most.
Planners back a permanent permit for Linda's Place shelter as neighbors raise concerns
City planners say Linda's Place should be a permanent shelter. The city and the shelter's paperwork give different schedules for its security walks.
Anchorage commission backs code change so Centennial campground and Russian Jack greenhouse fit park zoning
Anchorage's own campground and greenhouse don't fit its new park zoning. A commission voted to change the code so the parks can be zoned as parks.
Anchorage moves to allow homes on commercial land
Anchorage wants to let you build a house on commercial strip-mall land — the latest zoning tweak in its long slog toward 10,000 new homes.
Anchorage P&Z recommends rezoning 7.9 acres of port land to parks
Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission voted Monday to recommend rezoning 7.9 acres of port land from industrial to parks, clearing the way for the Assembly to make the final decision.
Urban Design Commission votes to recommend its own dissolution
Anchorage Urban Design Commission voted to recommend its own dissolution, merging its duties into the Planning and Zoning Commission to save $28,000 annually and fill board vacancies.
