Zoning
RSSResidential, commercial, industrial zoning rules; variances; conditional use permits
Kodiak holds off on selling historic Griffin Memorial Hospital as museums seek a lease
Kodiak's 1938 Griffin Memorial Hospital has two suitors: a church that wants to buy it and two museums that want to lease it. The city isn't selling, for now.
by Walter AlaskaNews1d ago1 min read
Wasilla pot shop near Knik Charter School surrenders its state license
The Wasilla-area pot shop 530 feet from Knik Charter School lost in court and now has no state license. Its name has moved to a store on Spenard Road.
by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read
Petersburg assembly deadlocks 3-3, rejecting one-year data center moratorium
Petersburg's assembly split 3-3 on pausing data center permits, so there's no pause. The utility says the power grid comes with its own off switch.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
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.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
Houston commission recommends giving Holding District H landowners until March for fee-free zone changes
Houston landowners in the zoning holding district may get until the end of March to pick a new zone for free. The City Council still has to sign off.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago1 min read
Anchorage proposes trading the Tozier Track to the state housing agency for downtown parking lots, with housing required
Anchorage wants to trade the old dog track where the first Iditarod started for downtown parking lots. No bidding needed, and a neighbor objects.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago3 min read
Soldotna weighs letting rural lots hold two homes instead of one
Soldotna may let rural residential lots hold two homes instead of one, partly because people east of the highway are already building without permits.
by Melinda Communities.News5d ago2 min read
Juneau Planning Commission approves second commercial tenant at Clinton Drive Domino's building
Juneau approved a second commercial tenant next to the Clinton Drive Domino's. Who actually moves in is still unknown, and no parking was added.
by Melinda Communities.News5d ago1 min read
Juneau's planning commission approved a subdivision plat it rejected in July
Juneau's planning commission turned this subdivision down in July over drainage. The Assembly sent it back, and on Tuesday it passed it.
by Melinda Communities.News5d ago1 min read
A Palmer barbecue restaurant's parking variance waits another month after neighbors object
A Palmer barbecue joint with zero parking spots says it counted 698 nearby on Google Earth. A dozen neighbors said that's not how this works.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Juneau moves to ban electric motorcycles on nearly all public property
Juneau would ban electric motorcycles on nearly all public property, with exemptions for Montana Creek Trail and the off-road vehicle park.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Sitka would make second houses easier to build in some zones and ban them in others
Sitka wants second small houses easier to build in some neighborhoods and off limits in others. Shotgun Alley asked for one and was told to wait.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read
Anchorage schedules Oct. 6 hearing on transit-corridor plan
Anchorage will hear testimony Oct. 6 on plan amendments calling for 25 to 36 homes per acre in designated transit corridors.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Sitka would make backyard apartments easier to build, in fewer places
Sitka wants more backyard apartments and fewer places to put them. The ordinance cuts requirements from 14 to eight and bars them from R-2 lots.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Sitka has been renting dumpsters without a rate in code
Sitka has been running roll-off dumpster service with no rate in city code. The Assembly is fixing that Tuesday, at $3,300 a month per container.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Petition would vacate Eek Street; comment by Oct. 20 or lose the right to object
A public street in Eek would become private property of the city and AVEC, no one has said why, and anyone who wants to object later has to speak up by Oct. 20.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Juneau staff recommend banning electric dirt bikes on all public property
Juneau staff recommend banning electric dirt bikes from all public property, citing safety concerns and comparing high-powered models to unlicensed motorcycles.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Juneau committee to weigh 10% tax on rental cars staged near cruise docks
Juneau is weighing a 10% excise tax on rental cars picked up near the cruise docks, which would push the total on some rentals to 24 percent.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Visitors keep walking into Seward's industrial port
Cruise passengers in Seward keep wandering into the industrial port instead of onto the sidewalk. The city is paying $79,920 to sort out the signs.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage housing overlay hearing carries to Oct. 6 after divided testimony
Anchorage heard nearly 90 minutes of divided housing testimony, then ran out of time. The 30,000-parcel overlay returns Oct. 6
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage's own campground isn't allowed under its park zoning
Anchorage's 84-site Centennial campground isn't permitted under the city's own park zoning. A proposed fix would legalize what's already there.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Juneau commission to weigh second tenant on Clinton Drive Domino's lot with no added parking
A second business wants into the Domino's building on Clinton Drive with no new parking, and the neighbors who fought the 2024 permit are back.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage planners ask commission to triple setback threshold director can approve alone
Anchorage wants to triple what its planning director can approve alone, letting more setback encroachments skip the public hearing that now takes months.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Kodiak staff urge keeping Beaver Lake land as the borough hunts for housing sites
Kodiak's manager wants to open Beaver Lake land to housing. The borough's own planning staff say keep it — and the commission said no in 2019.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks committee takes up Fairbanks Street rezone that could allow 51 units on 13 lots
Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Committee discusses rezoning 13 Fairbanks Street lots to allow up to 51 housing units instead of 25, driven by a vacant former bed and breakfast.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Nome may add flowcharts to help residents navigate permits
Nome may give residents visual flowcharts to walk them through variance and rezoning applications. The Planning Commission backed the idea Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Seward would allow rainwater catchment in new subdivisions, but only by waiver
Seward would allow rainwater catchment in new subdivisions only by waiver. A commissioner who wanted it struck called it a dry cabin at in-town prices.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Soldotna planning director drafts code change to replace court citations with civil fines
Soldotna's planning director is drafting a code change to replace court citations for unpermitted rentals with staff-issued civil fines, which could speed enforcement.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Craig homeowner asks council to drop Port St. Nicholas tower site
A Craig homeowner asked the council to reject a proposed cell tower near her house on Port St. Nicholas Road, but the mayor said the site is outside city limits and the council is still reviewing.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
A builder across from a Soldotna school pushed its snow into the street
A builder across from a Soldotna elementary school left no room for snow, so it went into the street. The city says snow storage is required.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Two Kenai Peninsula subdivisions go to the plat committee Sept. 28
Two subdivision plats, one in Nikiski and one in Anchor Point, go before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Sept. 28. Written comment closes the Friday before.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage wants 10,000 homes. Its zoning fight is over where they can fit.
Anchorage wants 10,000 homes in 10 years. Tuesday's zoning fight is over where they can go — because adding homes means letting familiar blocks change.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago7 min read
Petersburg planning commission recommends one-year data center moratorium; developer threatens suit
Petersburg may pause data center permits for a year. The developer says a year would kill the project, and has threatened to sue the borough.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Petersburg rejects a wireless tower next to its only fire hall over collapse fears
Petersburg's planning commission rejected a wireless tower next to the borough's only fire hall over fears it could collapse onto the station.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
A mobile home lot near Abbott Road could become business-zoned
A mobile home lot near Abbott Road would become business-zoned. Nobody objected, and a planner noted such changes can displace mobile-home residents.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage zoning board approves setback variance for Chandalar Drive home
Anchorage zoning board unanimously approved a variance allowing a Chandalar Drive home to keep an addition that has encroached 1.3 feet into the required setback since 1998
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Anchorage zoning board backs letting director approve bigger setback fixes without a hearing
An Anchorage board voted to let the planning director approve building encroachments up to 15 percent without a hearing, tripling the current threshold.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 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 AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Two Fairbanks rezones could take 32 lots to 99 dwelling units total
Fairbanks is being asked to upzone two residential corridors in five days. Together they would take 32 lots from 34 units up to as many as 99.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read