Zoning

Anchorage staff recommend denying most of Girdwood owner's plan to build in stream buffer

A Girdwood owner wants to rebuild a house and add a garage, rental unit and bridge in a protected stream buffer. City staff say no to most of it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Sitka Assembly members set Oct. 21 meeting on taxi code rewrite

Sitka may trade taxi meters for flat fares: $10 around downtown, $12 to the airport. Two Assembly members want to hear from drivers and riders first, Oct. 21.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su platting board approves five-tract Knik-Fairview subdivision after neighbor raises pond concerns

Sandhill cranes, moose and a pond that may or may not have tripled in size: Mat-Su's platting board OK'd a five-tract, 72-acre split in Knik-Fairview.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Platting Board to consider combining industrial lots and vacating unused rail easement

An industrial lot in South Anchorage wants to shed a railroad easement that never saw a train and some extra street. The Platting Board takes it up Oct. 7.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Juneau's Alaska Shoppe seeks wider Front Street entrance in historic Blomgren Building

Alaska Shoppe wants to widen its Front Street door in Juneau's historic Blomgren Building. The city's preservation committee reviews the plan Wednesday.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Sitka planners favor 30 to 40 single-family lots near Sitka High School

Sitka planners like 30 to 40 single-family lots near Sitka High, with room saved for apartments or dorms later. Final findings are due by year's end.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Hideout Lounge liquor license renewal goes to Assembly

The Assembly is set to wave through Al's Alaskan Inn and Hideout Lounge's liquor renewal Oct. 6. Its application lists 19 rooms, 5 kitchens and no dining room.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Borough Planning Commission to hear proposal for Nikiski gravel pit on Oct. 12

A paving company wants to dig a gravel pit at Mile 31 of the Kenai Spur Highway in Nikiski. Neighbors get their say Oct. 12, three minutes at a time.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Petersburg planning commission recommends one-year data center moratorium; developer threatens suit

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago3 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.News1mo ago1 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.News1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Juneau commission to weigh second tenant on Clinton Drive Domino's lot with no added parking

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.News1mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage wants 10,000 homes. Its zoning fight is over where they can fit.

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 9

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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 1

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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 2

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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 3

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

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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read