Making changes to Anchorage’s zoning laws has been an uphill battle. But, it’s one that supporters say is a worthwhile task to address the city’s chronic shortage of housing.
The culmination of the latest effort to expand housing in Alaska’s largest city will be before the Anchorage Assembly on June 25 in the form of a proposal updating the city’s zoning laws to allow duplexes and other multi-unit residences on most residential properties in the Anchorage Bowl (Eagle River and Girdwood excluded). The measure is significantly scaled back from an earlier proposal that sought to simplify residential zoning.
“There’s a brilliance in simplicity,” said Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zaletel, one of the measure’s three sponsors, in a prepared statement. “By making two simple changes — permitting up to three units (two primary and one accessory) by-right where one unit currently exists and allowing dwelling units to be multiple structures — we provide flexibility in current code that empowers more housing.”
Zalatel worked with Assembly members Anna Brawley and Daniel Volland on the measure, engaging in a multi-month outreach process to the community that included community groups, building groups and groups that have typically not been as engaged in the city’s ongoing esoteric zoning battles.
In an interview with The Alaska Current, Assembly member Anna Brawley said the idea is to allow the city’s housing to better fit the changing market, where people aren’t necessarily living in what we’d think of as traditional nuclear family situations. Framed in part as an increase to property rights, Brawley said the changes would allow homeowners to adapt and create more housing throughout the city. Duplexes, mother-in-law apartments, or detached tiny homes might be a better fit for multi-generational families, housing with multiple adults or people simply looking to downsize.
Brawley added that it’s not about to be the Wild West of development and that existing permitting and zoning restrictions will still apply. For example, you’d have to have the room to fit a duplex, which would mean neighborhoods with smaller lots, such as Nunaka Valley, will likely not see such development. Duplexes also have more prescriptive building standards than single-family homes.
“If and when this passes, it increases your entitlement,” she said. “It says one unit and two units, and it can either be the same building or two different buildings. That’s what would change if you’re living in a single-family neighborhood. But, all that tells you is what you can do with your property … It’s an option you have. It’s not something everybody’s going to do. You’re still engaging with an architect, you’re still pricing it out, you’re still getting building permits.”
One of the minor but significant changes is that a duplex wouldn’t necessarily need to be a single building with a shared wall. A separate building, if it fits, could also be an option.
There’s also a broader issue of the existing housing market’s other strains, such as building standards that some developers say are too onerous and costly amid rising home construction costs that are worsened by a general lack of workers and rising materials. Brawley said she hopes that the measure opens up more of an opportunity for remodels.
The opposition to the measure is pretty familiar. It comes from communities that are focused on maintaining “neighborhood character” fueled by worries that denser housing will lead to a decline in the quality of housing. Many of the criticisms frequently seem directed at lower-income parts of the city, arguing that they don’t want their parts of the city to start looking like those areas.
They’ve, in large part, accused the Anchorage Assembly of overreaching and ignoring the backlash from community councils. Some have suggested slowing the process down, putting things to public votes or focusing on things other than zoning. A measure that would have streamlined the process of updating zoning failed with a split vote earlier this month amid very similar complaints. One opponent acknowledged the problems facing the housing market but said that they were nothing new.
“We have a housing crisis, so what?” one person said.
Brawley said she’s been frustrated by the opposition, which she says has been fueled by misinformation and scaremongering. She noted that zoning is just one piece of the picture and that forces such as market prices and the availability of builders will still play a significant role in shaping the neighborhoods. She also said there’s still work to be done regarding building standards that have made new construction costly.
What she said is clear is that housing availability has stagnated in Anchorage, and new construction has slowed as available land in the Anchorage Bowl has dried up. It’s made it harder for younger residents or people moving into Anchorage to find affordable and quality housing. With ongoing problems of outmigration, Brawley said it’s important to act sooner than later because changes such as the one proposed will take years, if not more, to truly see an impact on the availability of housing.
“The bottom line for me is, OK, if you see there is a problem, if not this, then what? At what point do we make major changes to respond to the problems that we have?” she asked.
The HOME Initiative will be heard at the June 25 meeting of the Anchorage Assembly. For more information and how to testify, visit the Assembly’s website here.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.