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​Project contact: Tom Davis, Senior Planner, 907-343-7916 or tom.davis@anchorageak.gov

​​​​​Elizabeth Appleby, Senior Planner, 907-​343-7925 or elizabeth.appleby@anchorageak.gov


Project News:

Coming soon


Project Background:

​Parking and maneuvering requirements are typically the costliest zoning regulations for multifamily and mixed-use developments. Excessive parking can reduce the number of housing units, increase household rents on remaining units, stymie economic reinvestment, discourage transportation alternatives, increase road congestion, constrain design, and degrade quality of life.

This project was initiated by the Planning Department to carry out Actions 4-3 and 4-6 of the Anchorage 2040 Land Use Plan to amend Title 21 to allow parking reductions by right, offer greater reductions in key development ​areas, and reform on-site driveway standards and other site access requirements.​


Project Timeline:

Coming soon


Reference:

​​Title 21 Site Access Amendments adopted on July 11, 2023; Effective date is January 1, 2024

The Assembly deliberated upon and adopted the Title 21 Site Access Amendment ordinance with two floor amendments at its July 11 regular meeting. The ordinance as introduced to the assembly and the two floor amendments made by the Assembly at the meeting appear below. The final, signed and approved version of the ordinance that incorporates Floor Amendments 1 and 2 will be posted here as soon as it becomes available.

​The amended Title 21 site access regulations in AO No. 2023-50 will become effective on January 1, 2024. The Title 21 regulations that have applied to development projects prior to Assembly adoption of AO No. 2022-50 will continue to apply to all applications filed for development or land use entitlements until the close of business on Friday, December 29, 2023. ​Applicants for entitlements who file their application on or after Tuesday, January 2, 2024,​ will be reviewed under Title 21 as amended by the adopted AO No. 2023-50.   

Along with the newly amended site access regulations, the following two subsections of the Title 21 parking regulations that were amended in 2022 (by AO No. 2022-80(S)) will also become effective on January 1, 2024: ​

      • 21.07.090F., Parking Usage Reductions: Alternative Transportation Incentives
      • 21.07.090K., Bicycle Parking​​

Title 21 Site Access Amendments Assembly public hearing held on May 9th and continued deliberation by Assembly scheduled for​ July 11th (A.O. 2023-50)

The Anchorage Assembly held a public hearing and closed public testimony during their May 9, 2023 Assembly meeting. The Assembly also referred A.O. 2023-50 to the Assembly Community and Economic Development Committee (CEDC). The CEDC listened to a staff overview presentation and discussed the ordinance on June 1, 2023.

Assembly Community and Economic Development Committee (CEDC) ​Site Access Amendment​ Documents: 

    • CEDC Presentation Slides, June 1, 2023 (Hyperlink available soon)
    • CEDC Handout, June 1, 2023 (Hyperlink available soon)​

Assembly Site Access Amendment​ Documents: 

Title 21 Site Access Amendments ordinance recommended to Assembly for approval​ (PZC Case No. 2023-0011)

​On February 13, 2023, the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) voted unanimously to recommend approval to the Anchorage Assembly of ​​PZC Case No. 2023-0011, Site Access Regulations in Title 21​The case will be scheduled for Introduction and Public Hearing​ before the ​ Assembly during the second quarter of 2023.  


The PZC documents are hyperlinked below. These are the reforms to Title 21 vehicle driveway access and circulation requirements, pedestrian facility requirements and incentives, and building placement and orientation standards that were proposed alongside the reforms to off-street parking minimums in A.O. 2022-80 (PZC Case No. 2022-0026; see further below). The Assembly ultimately adopted a Substitute version of A.O. 2022-80(S) without the site access amendments, in order to de-couple the site access amendments from the parking amendments ordinance. The Assembly gave direction to take the site access amendments back through a Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) public hearing as a separate companion ordinance to the parking reforms.

PZC Site Access Case Documents: 


​​Title 21 Parking Amendments adopted on November 22, 2022

Following is the Assembly's Substitute version of the Title 21 Parking and Site Access Amendments ordinance, AO 2022-80(S), which the Assembly adopted with two floor amendments on November 22. Also listed are the Assembly Memorandum (AM) summarizing the Assembly's Substitute version, and the two floor amendments to the Substitute version made by the Assembly at the meeting. These documents and other information is available in an Assembly press release.


Effective Date of Amended Parking Regulations:  January 23, 2023

​The amended Title 21 parking regulations in the adopted AO No. 2022-80(S) will become effective on January 23, 2023. The Title 21 regulations that have applied to development projects prior to Assembly adoption of AO No. 2022-80(S) will continue to apply to all applications filed for development or land use entitlements until the close of business on Friday, January 20, 2023. ​

Applicants for entitlements who file their application on or after Monday, January 23, 2023,​ will be reviewed under Title 21 as amended by the adopted AO No. 2022-80(S).   

Exception: Two subsections of the amended Title 21 parking regulations will not apply to developments until January 1, 2024. These two subsections are: ​

    • 21.07.090F., Parking Usage Reductions: Alternative Transportation Incentives
    • 21.07.090K., Bicycle Parking​


Draft Assembly Ordinance as Introduced in September

Following is the draft Title 21 parking and site access amendment ordinance containing the Planning and Zoning Commission's (PZC's) ​recommended changes, as well as its accompanying Exhibits A through E, which was introduced at the September 13 Assembly Meeting.  These materials are subject to an Assembly public hearing that opened on October 11 and is continued to the November 22 Assembly meeting.  

2022 Public Hearing Draft ​Approved by Planning and Zoning Commission

On June 6, 2022, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved forwarding to the Assembly a recommendation to adopt the Public Hearing Draft Title 21 parking and site access amendment, with some edits in response to public comments. See the PZC Resolution and attachments ​containing the PZC's approved edits:

Attachments 1-4 below were released ​on February 7, 2022,​ for two months of public review and comment. The Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) public hearing was held on April 11, 2022.  Attachment 5 below contains written public comments regarding the public hearing draft code amendments that the Planning Department received by March 31.  Additional public comments received by April 11 and submitted to the PZC in a supplementary packet are also provided below.  The PZC closed the hearing and postponed its deliberations until June 6 when the Planning Department provided an issue-response memorandum to address the written comments and public testimony. 

   
      Attachment 3: Annotated Zoning Code Amendment Language                                                                                                   Attachment 4: Clean Version with Proposed Amendments (Non-annotated)
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2021 Community Discussion Draft ​for Public Review

The 2021 Community Discussion Draft amendment to the Title 21 Parking and Site Access was released on October 29 for a two-month review period. The Planning Department received comments/feedback to incorporate into the 2022 Public Hearing Draft.  Materials released for the 2021 Community Discussion Draft included the following:​

Other Project Documents​​​​

Public Information Sessions Presentation - November 2021
Video Recording of Nov. 16 Lunchtime Public Inf​ormation Session - November 2021
Project Slide Presentation - April 2021

What We Heard from You in Pre-Consultation Phase: Winter 2020 - Summer 2021

The forthcoming Community Discussion Draft (October 2021) merges recommendations from individuals and organizations collected during the pre-consultation phase of the project. Thank you for your comments! Please review Project Documents for information on ​materials presented during this phase of the project. As we compile summ​aries of​ public comments and questionnaire responses from this phase we​ are posting them here:

Contacts



Return to the main Anchorage 2040 Implementation page.



Project Updates/News

Assembly Amended and Approved A.O. 2023-50
July 12, 2023 Update

The Anchorage Assembly approved the Site Access Ordinance with two amendments.​


Assembly Closes Public Hearing and Schedules Action for July 11
June 6, 2023 Update

​The Anchorage Assembly held a public hearing on May 9 and closed public testimony, but scheduled deliberation and a​ction for July 11, 2023.​


Assembly Introduces A.O. 2023-50
May 4, 2023 Update

​The Anchorage Assembly has introduced A.O. 2023-50 and it is on the agenda for a May 9, 2023 public hearing​; however, the public hearing may be postponed and a work session scheduled.​​​  ​

Planning and Zoning Commission Recommendation for Approval to Assembly
April 5, 2023 Update

In February the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) recommended approval of the Title 21 Site Access Amendments to the Anchorage Assembly. The case may be scheduled for introduction at the Assembly in April, after which an Assembly public hearing date will be scheduled.​​​  


Planning and Zoning Commission Work Session
Public Hearing Draft of ​​Site Access Amendments
February 6, 2023 - 5:30 p.m.​

The Planning and Zoning Commission held a work session on PZC Case No. 2022-0026 on Monday, February 6, 2023. A link to the slide presentation is below.​​​  


New Public Hearing Draft Site Access Amendments
December 23, 2022

A new public hearing draft of the site access amendments from A.O. 2022-80 is available for public comment. A Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing is scheduled for Monday, February 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers of the Z.J. Loussac Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage. See the documents at left for more information and instructions on how to comment.

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Assembly Adopts Substitute Version of AO 2022-80
November 22, 2022

The Assembly continued and closed its public hearing and adopted its Substitute version of the ordinance, AO 2022-80(S), with two floor amendments, on November 22, 2022.  The ordinance becomes effective on January 23, 2023.

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Assembly Work Session Held
November 18, 2022

An Assembly work session regarding Assembly Ordinance No. 2022-80​was held on Friday, November 18. A video recording is available here. ​Assembly Members and meeting participants discussed the Substitute version (“S-version") of the ordinance that the Assembly members intend to provide at the November 22 Assembly public hearing.


Assembly Public Hearing Continued
November 22, 2022

Draft Assembly Ordinance No. 2022-80 bringing forward the Title 21 parking and site access amendments with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommended changes was introduced at the September 13 Assembly meeting.  The public hearing opened on October 11 and has been continued to the November 22, 2022 Assembly meeting. 


Planning and Zoning Commission Recommended Approval​
June 6, 2022

The Planning and Zoning Commission deliberated and made its recommendation of approval with suggested edits to the Anchorage Assembly regarding the Title 21 parking and site access amendments.

Public Hearing Draft - update
April 15, 2022

The Public Hearing Draft was released for two months of public review and comment and then underwent a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission on April 11.​  The Commission closed the hearing and postponed its deliberations until the Planning staff can address the public comments and questions in an issue-response memo.


Planning and Zoning Commission Work Sessions
March 14​ and April 11, 2022

The Planning and Zoning Commission held two work sessions. Each was ​held in the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage.​​  See Attachment 6.1 at left for the work session presentation slides.


Public Information Sessions 
March 8, 2022 - noon & 6:30 pm

Two virtual Public Information Sessions were held. The content was the same at both, and each was approximately an hour long. Links​ to the PDF of the slide presentation and the video of the noon session are below: 

 




 

Driveways Taking Up Site Space
Driveways and parking often take up the most
land area in multi-dwelling unit development sites. 


 

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