​Documents for Review

See also below for detailed documentation of individual tests of the commercial, retail, industrial and residential sites.

Description

The proposed rewrite of Title 21 land use regulations has raised questions about potential economic impacts to property owners and real estate developers who would be subject to changes imposed by the new code.  The Municipality contracted with Development Strategies, Inc. (consultants specializing in real estate, economic, and community development projects), to prepare an Economic Impact Analysis (EIA) of the Title 21 Rewrite.

Development Strategies prepared the draft report that focuses on certain land use regulations proposed in the Title 21 Public Hearing Draft now under review.  The EIA is a technical study that measures potential economic impacts in two ways:  impacts on land values compared to land development potential, and impacts on development costs to comply with the proposed regulations. The main EIA draft report was made available on February 29, 2008. When the draft report was released, a part of the analysis addressing the potential impacts on maximum building size was not yet complete. Therefore, the report included a placeholder for the Executive Summary and Addendum.

The EIA Executive Summary and Addendum, prepared with Development Strategies, Inc., were released as the remaining components of the the report on June 4, 2008.  The Executive Summary provides the key findings of the overall EIA report, including the main chapters and the new Addendum.  The Addendum completes the EIA report by measuring the impacts of the proposed land use regulations on land development potential, in terms of maximum building capacity (measured in gross floor area).

Based on public comments regarding the methods and scope of the analysis, the Planning Department conducted follow-up tests using the EIA model on selected retail commercial and medium density multifamily residential examples.  These results were provided to the Planning and Zoning Commission on December 1, 2008 during its deliberations on Chapter 21.07 of the Title 21 Rewrite.

The EIA does not address all chapters of the Title 21 Rewrite.  Its focus relates to the following:

  • Chapter 4: Zoning Districts
  • Chapter 5: Use Regulations
  • Chapter 6: Dimensional Standards and Measurements
  • Chapter 7: Development and Design Standards

See also companion projects:

Public Participation

Robert Lewis, Principal at Development Strategies, visited Anchorage in March 2008 to present the results of the draft EIA at several public meetings.  On Thursday, June 5, a community meeting was held to give residents the opportunity to talk with the Planning staff about the overall Title 21 Rewrite, including the Economic Impact Analysis. 

After an extended public comment period, a Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing on the Draft Economic Impact Analysis of the Title 21 Rewrite was held in August and October 2008.  Based on public comments, the Planning Department conducted follow-up tests using the EIA model on retail and multifamily sites, and provided the results of these follow up tests to the Planning and Zoning Commission during its deliberations on Chapter 21.07 of the Title 21 Rewrite.

The EIA is an informal report for use during the public review process for the Title 21 Rewrite.  The EIA is not intended to be adopted by the Municipality; it requires no formal action by the Planning and Zoning Commission or Assembly.

If you have questions about the EIA, please contact the Planning Department at 343-7921 or e-mail Title21@muni.org .

Main Model Tests:

 Commercial

 Residential

 Industrial

 1.  B-3 to B-3 6.  B-3 to R-4A 11. I-1 to I-1
 2.  B-3 to NMU 7.  R-O to R-O 12. I-1 to I-2
 3.  B-3 to CMU 8.  R-O to R-4A 13. I-1 to B-3
 4.  B-3 to RMU 9.  R-4 to R-4A 14. I-1 to CMU
 5.  B-3 to MT 10. R-4 to R-4 15. I-1 to RMU
   16. I-2 to I-1
   17. I-2 to I-2
   18. I-2 to CMU
 

 Supplementary Model Tests:

 Commercial

 Residential

 Industrial

 1.  B-3 to B-3 6.  B-3 to R-4A 11. I-1 to I-1
 2.  B-3 to NMU 7.  R-O to R-O 12. I-1 to I-2
 3.  B-3 to CMU 8.  R-O to R-4A 13. I-1 to B-3
 4.  B-3 to RMU 9.  R-4 to R-4A 14. I-1 to CMU
 5.  B-3 to MT 10. R-4 to R-4 15. I-1 to RMU
   16. I-2 to I-1
   17. I-2 to I-2
   18. I-2 to CMU

Follow Up Model Tests:

 Stand-alone Retail Store Multi-tenant Strip Mall Grocery Store with Cafe Low-rise Multifamily

1. B-3 to B-3

 7. B-3 to B-3 9. B-1A to B-1A 11. R-4 to R-4

2. B-3 to NMU

 8. B-3 to CMU 10. B-1A to NMU 12. B-3 to B-3
3. B-3 to CMU   13. B-3 to CMU
4. B-3 to B-3   
5. B-3 to NMU   
6. B-3 to CMU