Land Use

FAA weighs releasing 40 acres of Fairbanks airport land for sale to expand a gravel mine

Fairbanks International Airport wants to sell 40 acres it says it no longer needs for aviation, to make room for a private gravel company. Comments due Nov. 28.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Fairbanks board approves 8 industrial lots on land split without approval in 1974

This Fairbanks industrial land was split without borough approval starting in 1974. A 2023 rule for innocent owners let a board approve eight lots on it.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readFrom Oct 21

State proposes giving North Slope Borough 320 acres in the Brooks Range foothills

The state proposed giving the North Slope Borough 320 acres in the Brooks foothills, a week after proposing it get 583 acres in the Kuparuk oil field.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Willow-area owners ask Mat-Su to let them split 40 acres without building a mile-plus road

Three Willow-area landowners want to split 40 acres into two recreational lots without building 6,800 feet of road. The Mat-Su Platting Board decides Nov. 5.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Chugach Electric asks Anchorage to zone its Third Avenue utility yard heavy industrial

Chugach Electric wants its 60-year-old utility yard near Third and Post zoned heavy industrial, which would erase a greenway marking. The hearing is Dec. 1.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Alaskans won 81 pieces of state land, from $255,000 in Big Lake to a $7,500 cabin site

Alaskans won 81 pieces of state land. Top bid: $255,000 for 40 acres in Big Lake. Cheapest: $7,500 for a river cabin site reached by boat or snowmachine.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Business adviser says a small Wasilla project faces $100,000 in permit requirements

A Wasilla business adviser told the council a small construction job is being treated like a big commercial project, at a cost of about $100,000 and a year.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Housing agency has no set plans for proposed state land transfers, CEO tells senators

AHFC has no firm plans yet for over 400 acres of free state land DNR proposes giving it for housing. Legislature's lawyers say such giveaways are likely unconstitutional.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Conservation district applies for 885 Point MacKenzie acres DNR plans to give AIDEA

A Wasilla conservation district wants the 885 Point MacKenzie acres DNR proposes to give AIDEA free, to keep hayfields farmed and build a farm hub instead.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

DNR commissioner says governor's office worked 'very closely' on land transfers to AIDEA

DNR's commissioner says the governor's office worked "very closely" on land transfers, including 20,000 free acres for AIDEA, after sending redacted records.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Dillingham council moves to sell three tax-foreclosed lots and keep a fourth

Dillingham's council introduced ordinances to sell three tax-foreclosed lots, one with a $172,300 minimum bid, and keep a fourth for road and utility work.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readFrom Oct 22

Fairbanks adopts flood maps that take about 2,900 buildings out of the high-risk zone

Fairbanks adopted new flood maps that take about 2,900 buildings out of the high-risk zone and put about 540 in. Salcha comes out ahead; Moose Creek doesn't.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readFrom Oct 22

Tree cutting along Kenai Peninsula salmon streams falls to fewest since 2018

Tree cutting along Kenai Peninsula salmon streams is down to 391 so far this year from 2,772 in 2022, and restoration credit requests hit 32, the borough says.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Juneau planners weigh smaller Áak'w Landing uplands after costs pass $250 million

Huna Totem wants to shrink the shops and bus lot beside its Juneau cruise dock after costs topped $250 million. Planners take it up Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Skagway planners weigh where to claim the borough's last 118 acres of state land

Skagway has 118 acres of state land left to claim. Planners will discuss Tuesday whether to take 55 highway acres held since 1997 or pick elsewhere.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

State proposes a 25-year tidelands lease for Goldbelt's Douglas Island cruise port

The state wants to lease Goldbelt 152 acres of tidelands for its west Douglas cruise port, for 25 years, not the 55 it asked for. Crabbers may feel it.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Alaska Supreme Court upholds borough's denial of Anchor Point gravel pit permit

The Alaska Supreme Court upheld the denial of an Anchor Point gravel pit after an eight-year fight, saying the owner's must-approve reading defies common sense.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Seward asks residents how to ease congestion between harbor, cruise dock and downtown

Seward wants ideas on easing navigation and congestion between its harbor, cruise dock and downtown, and is asking for them at an open house Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

Pier One Theatre seeks one more Homer Spit lease, and port staff want it to be the last

Pier One Theatre wants five more years in its $1-a-year city warehouse on the Homer Spit. Port staff say fine, but make it the last lease. The theater agrees.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

State proposes giving the North Slope Borough 583 acres in the Kuparuk oil field

The state would hand the North Slope Borough 583 acres inside the Kuparuk oil field, but keep 185 acres with roads, pipelines and part of the operations center.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Mat-Su counts at least 763 buildings likely too close to lakes as Assembly weighs a fix

Mat-Su counts at least 763 lakefront buildings likely too close to the water, maybe double that. A one-page plan would give owners a year to go legal.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Follows: Mat-Su Assembly to revisit lake and river setback rules in a special meeting

Cook Inlet Housing asks Anchorage to lift 2001 rules on its Creekside land

Cook Inlet Housing wants Anchorage to scrap 2001 rules on its Creekside land at Muldoon and DeBarr, calling them prescriptive and time-consuming.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Girdwood street crews could get long-term control of their storage yard

Girdwood road crews have had a storage yard on a 3.3-acre lot for nearly 20 years. Anchorage may give them control, but the sewer plant next door may need it.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Huna Totem asks Juneau planners to approve a scaled-down Áak'w Landing uplands plan

Huna Totem asks Juneau planners Oct. 27 to shrink Áak'w Landing's uplands plan, cutting retail space from 50,000 to about 31,000 square feet.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Park Service proposes ATV access across Gates of the Arctic for Anaktuvuk Pass residents

Anaktuvuk Pass hunters could drive off-road vehicles across Gates of the Arctic under a proposed rule ending a 1986 ban rooted in dictionary definitions.

by Alaska News3w ago4 min read

Anchorage Assembly to consider study of building rules in high-hazard earthquake zones

Anchorage's earthquake hazard maps trace back to 1979. New ones are due this year, and the Assembly may ask city staff what they should mean for building rules.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Hillside neighborhood that pays for its own roads could get a bigger road contract

South Goldenview pays for its own roads, not the rest of Anchorage. A new contract would cap its road spending at $800,000 a year, up from $600,000.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Homer's draft code would require engineered stormwater plans for far smaller projects

Homer's draft zoning code would make more projects hire an engineer for stormwater. Its community development director says drainage needs more than that.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Fairbanks borough mayor proposes pause on large data center permits through 2027

Fairbanks' mayor wants no big new data centers permitted through 2027. Houston already hit pause, and Petersburg is drafting a pause of its own.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Borough to decide on merging 17 Salcha lots a planner ties to a possible resort

A landowner wants to turn 17 Salcha lots into one 38-acre parcel, and a borough planner says the land is understood to be headed for "some sort of resort."

by Maggie AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read

Kodiak planning commission set to decide Oct. 21 on Beaver Lake land sale

Kodiak's planners still say keep the Beaver Lake land as open space. The commission punted in September, decides Oct. 21, and said no to a similar sale in 2019.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Seward requires wider paved streets and bans cul-de-sacs in new subdivisions

New Seward subdivisions need wider paved streets, a place to walk and buried power lines, but no cul-de-sacs. Developers pay; one critic says buyers will too.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Houston passes two-year pause on data centers as state weighs AIDEA land transfer

Houston's City Council paused data center permits for two years while the state weighs giving 20,000 acres just north of the city to AIDEA for free.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Eklutna begins clearing five acres it bought beside Chin'an gaming hall

Eklutna is clearing five acres it bought next to Chin'an gaming hall, outside the approved gaming site. Public records don't say what's planned there.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Jul 8

Ketchikan Gateway Borough staff propose allowing housing on commercial waterfront land

Ketchikan Gateway Borough staff want to let housing onto commercial waterfront land and relabel seven parcels. The Planning Commission picks it back up Oct. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Housing on the Tozier Tract would likely close off a planned road

Opening a Tudor Road parcel to housing would probably kill a road connection the city has planned for years. The state planner said so and did not object.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage weighs making its 49 neighborhood plans advisory only

Anchorage's 49 neighborhood plans carry the force of law today. The Assembly wants to know if they should just be advice — 70% have never been updated.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage commission weighs 12.5 acres of heavy-industrial rezoning

Anchorage's planning commission will consider recommending that the Assembly rezone 12.5 acres to heavy industrial.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Comment closes Oct. 12 on a plan to dig antimony 80 miles from Trapper Creek and refine it at Port MacKenzie

Alaska is taking comment until Oct. 12 on permits for the Estelle gold and antimony project, whose applicant is a Nova Minerals subsidiary that won $43.4 million in federal defense funding to make military-grade antimony trisulfide.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A Haines ordinance cuts more code than the commission voted to change

Haines commissioners voted to trim one sentence of the land-use code. The draft ordinance deletes far more, including a clause nobody voted on.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 20