When the Anchorage Assembly narrowly passed the HOME Initiative last week — a measure that effectively eliminates single-family zoning in most of the Anchorage Bowl — it came with the caveat that it would be susceptible to a mayoral veto.
The 7-5 vote was a single vote short of what’s needed for an override, which meant backers couldn’t quite rest easy about its passage, at least, until Monday.
That’s when now-former Mayor Dave Bronson left office without issuing one last veto of the Anchorage Assembly, and newly minted Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance took office. LaFrance told reporters that she supported the legislation following her inauguration event in downtown Anchorage on Monday.
“At the end of the day, I feel like it was a good compromise, and it’s time to move forward,” she said. “There’s a lot of other work that needs to be done around housing; definitely streamlining our code is important. There are a lot of actions we can take to make it easier to build here and ensure we have adequate and affordable housing stock.”
The hard-fought change is part of a larger effort to increase the availability and affordability of housing in Alaska’s largest city, which lagged greatly behind its neighbors in new home construction as prices continue to climb. Backers argue that allowing homeowners to build duplexes, mother-in-law apartments, tiny homes and other denser housing will bring housing prices down in the long run.
Opponents worry that higher density will harm the “neighborhood character” of wealthier neighborhoods in the city, pointing to poorer parts of the city as undesirable because of their denser housing. Some Assemblymembers argued in favor of a more targeted approach even though such an approach would take many more months or years to achieve.
The Anchorage Assembly approved one change to the measure, which adds an extra layer of approval for properties on difficult and fire-prone parcels of land.
Anchorage Assemblymember Anna Brawley, who co-sponsored the HOME Initiative with Assemblymembers Meg Zaletel and Daniel Volland, said she was pleased to see the measure will get a chance.
“While allowing duplexes in more Anchorage neighborhoods is a modest change to zoning, the community took a big step on Tuesday by making this change,” she said. “There is a lot more work to be done to make housing more available, affordable, and abundant for everyone who wants to live here. I look forward to continuing to work with the new mayor, my Assembly colleagues, our planning professionals, and the whole community to make the real fixes we need to our housing and building problems.”
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.
