Zoning

Anchorage will decide whether two Eagle River properties can drop old development limits

Anchorage decides in September whether two Eagle River properties can drop decades-old limits, one to allow apartments, one to free up a business lot.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Girdwood petitioner seeks stream setback variance for house and bridge

A Girdwood developer seeks permission to build a house and bridge closer to a salmon stream than borough code allows. The Zoning Board hears the case Oct. 8.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage approves a Muldoon Road marijuana store, over a dispute about how close it sits to a playground

Anchorage approved a Muldoon Road marijuana store 8-3, over objections about how close it sits to a playground and whether a stricter state buffer applies.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage is weighing a trade of land it just bought for $2.35 million for four downtown parking lots

Anchorage is weighing a trade of land it just bought for $2.35 million for four downtown parking lots, over a state objection and around competitive bidding.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Eagle River hillside lot could lose the development limits set in 2002

Eagle River limits set in 2002 on a 34 percent slope would come off Tuesday. A neighbor says the storm drains there already ice over the intersection.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau denies Chilkat Vistas hillside plat after approval falls a vote short

Juneau's planning commission denied a hillside subdivision over landslide risk, two years after the Assembly struck landslide rules from the land use code.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Sitka nonprofit seeks to bend the rules to build more housing

A Sitka housing nonprofit is asking the city to waive parking and allow smaller lots so it can fit more homes on a lot on Halibut Point Road.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A Muldoon pot shop passed city rules, but a tribal youth program cites stricter state rules

A Muldoon Road pot shop passed city rules, but a tribal council says a stricter state youth-center buffer should block it. No one has settled which controls.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Follows: A Muldoon pot shop clears the park buffer, by measuring to the playground

A Midtown hotel vacant since a 2019 fire seeks approval to serve alcohol

Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on a liquor permit for the Courtyard by Marriott Midtown on A Street, with no public opposition filed so far.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage commission backs Eagle River rezone over two neighbors' objections

Two Eagle River neighbors are fighting a rezone that would lift 2002 building limits on a lot they say floods and moose use. The Assembly hears it Sept. 15.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read

A commission wants tougher riverbank protection than the developers asked for on a proposed Chena RV park

A Fairbanks commission wants tougher riverbank rules than a proposed Chena RV park's developers, and staff, sought — over how much to guard the water.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage planning commission approves Chugach substation rebuild over neighbor's objection

Anchorage planners approved Chugach Electric's Campbell Lake substation rebuild despite a neighbor's objection to transformers 25 feet from their home.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Follows: A Chugach substation rebuild draws a neighbor's concern over transformers near a home

Petersburg planning commission to vote next month on one-year data center ban

Petersburg's Planning Commission votes September 8 on a one-year data center ban while the borough drafts permanent rules.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A Chugach substation rebuild draws a neighbor's concern over transformers near a home

A Chugach substation rebuild in south Anchorage draws a neighbor's concern over two nearby transformers, with a hearing before the planning commission Monday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Bethel weighs a climbing fee to force action on empty buildings

A draft Bethel ordinance would make owners of empty buildings register and pay a fee that climbs the longer they sit vacant: $100, $500, then $1,000-plus.

by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage board vacates a Glen Alps public easement the city paid $130K to acquire

Anchorage's board gave a Glen Alps lot a public easement the city paid $130K for — over objections it's still access to big public land with few ways in.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Landowner gets variance to split land off Wasilla-Fishhook Road

A landowner near Wasilla-Fishhook Road, a route to Hatcher Pass, got a variance to split his land after the state barred new lots from tying directly into the road.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Kenai mayor moves to shield home value from city property tax

Kenai's mayor directed the city manager to draft a residential property tax exemption after residents said assessments are climbing faster than relief.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A Northwest think tank has ideas for Anchorage housing

A Seattle think tank that advocates for denser housing is recommending Anchorage zoning changes, one of which the city already adopted in 2025.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Wasilla resident gets gas station to study sidewalk on school bus route

A Wasilla resident got a new gas station to study building a sidewalk on a street where kids walk to the bus. The commission also OK'd a youth mental health facility.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Assembly weighs 10-year tax break for condos above shops and offices

Anchorage weighs a 10-year property-tax break for buyers of new condos above shops to spur housing, but critics ask whether the price cap lets it build much.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Chugach seeks industrial zoning for its campus, dropping a buffer

Chugach wants to rezone its Anchorage North Campus to heavy industrial to match its use, dropping a green buffer meant for a highway that likely won't come.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage may let buyers own a detached home outright where condos are now the norm

Anchorage may let buyers own detached houses outright in more residential zones — a change aimed at helping people dodge the financing hurdles of buying a condo. The Assembly decides.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage would sell rights over its City Hall lot below appraisal

Anchorage would sell two private firms the right to keep part of the City Hall lot building-free — $80K under appraisal, for a downtown project not yet filed.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Neighbors got the tower dropped from a south Anchorage substation rebuild

After a two-year fight, neighbors got Chugach to drop a 65-foot tower from a south Anchorage substation rebuild. A smaller fence-and-noise dispute is left.

by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago1 min read

A Muldoon pot shop clears the park buffer, by measuring to the playground

A Muldoon Road pot shop clears the park buffer because the city measures to the playground, not the park line, 734 feet. Neighbors object; the Assembly votes Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Girdwood's park plans would move to Anchorage's standard public review

Girdwood loves its trails and ski runs, and an ordinance up Tuesday would run the town's park plans through the same public review the rest of Anchorage uses.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A Fairbanks medical campus wants room to grow. Its neighbors want the buffer.

A Fairbanks medical campus wants to rezone for a bigger surgery center; neighbors and planning staff want to keep the buffer. The commission split 3-3 and punted to Aug. 11.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Fairbanks planners reject York Avenue duplexes over the road to the school

Fairbanks planners voted 7-3 to reject eight duplexes on York Avenue, worried about density on icy sidewalk-less roads that feed an elementary school. The Assembly decides Aug. 6.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Wasilla weighs a facility meant to keep Alaska kids in Alaska

A Wasilla facility aimed at keeping Alaska kids from being sent out of state for behavioral health care went before the Planning Commission Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage takes another run at its missing-middle housing rules

Anchorage takes a second swing at missing-middle housing, letting corridor owners opt into duplexes-to-townhomes. Last year's version stalled on neighborhood pushback.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom Jun 9

On Aurora Street, water mains are in but the sewer stops short

A new lot split on Aurora Street marks the edge of Anchorage's grid: water mains are in, public sewer isn't, and getting sewer means paying to extend the main.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

South Anchorage rezone would allow industrial use in a residential area

A 3.8-acre South Anchorage lot could be rezoned from homes to heavy industrial. No project's been named yet — and that's what neighbors will want to know. Hearing Aug. 3.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Chugach wants to trade a planned greenway for heavy industrial zoning

Chugach Electric wants to erase a planned greenway near downtown Anchorage and rezone the land heavy-industrial. City planners say yes; the Assembly decides.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Cordova clears the way for Copper Brewing's 101-square-foot expansion

Cordova's Copper Brewing needs 101 square feet of city land for one more tank. The planning commission checked the snowplow routes and said yes.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Anchorage Platting Board to weigh Girdwood plat note removal Aug. 5

Anchorage Platting Board will vote Aug. 5 on removing a vegetation screening requirement from a Girdwood lot, which would free space for multifamily housing at 116 Kami Circle.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage may let duplex owners sell half the house and its land

Anchorage may let duplex owners in single-family zones sell one unit and its land as its own lot — more housing, plus questions about running a split lot.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Sitka moves to fix its late-night ride problem

Sitka has few cabs, no Uber, and a hard time getting anyone to the airport. The city is rewriting its 1990s taxi rules to fix that.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A Parks Highway gas station, ahead of the state's traffic review

Wasilla may approve a new Parks Highway gas station before the state finishes deciding whether its driveway onto the highway is safe.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Juneau quarry seeks bigger blasts and longer hours through 2036

Juneau's Planning Commission will decide July 28 whether to let Stabler Point Quarry in Auke Bay blast bigger, run longer hours, and operate through 2036.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read