The ordinances under consideration offer commonsense solutions to address the city's longstanding housing shortage.
$524,000. That's the average price of a home built for one family in Anchorage today. The average cost of new single-detached house is even steeper: $683,000. These prices, astronomical for Anchorage, have risen by 23 percent since 2020.
In that same period, the city took steps to make its zoning code, Title 21, more conducive to building homes. In 2022, Anchorage abolished parking mandates, giving homebuilders more flexibility to decide how much square footage to give over to cars versus the interiors of homes and businesses. In 2023, the city made it easier to build accessory dwelling units - a.k.a. "bonus homes" or "backyard cottages" - and opened up downtown to more businesses that support locals. In 2024, Anchorage removed some regulatory barriers to building triplexes and fourplexes and allowed duplexes on all lots in the Anchorage Bowl, where most of the city's residents live.
While Anchorage can't completely control the housing market, the city continues to make changes where it can. Title 21, which determines how Anchorage uses its land, still contains countless impediments to building the homes that people in Alaska's largest city badly need.
New ordinances coming up in the Anchorage Assembly could help alleviate the shortage by lifting arcane rules that in effect bar developers from building more homes, in all shapes and sizes - not just your basic nuclear family model. More apartments for singles and downsizing seniors. More modest-sized homes for young or divorced families. More accessory dwelling units for aging relatives. More multigenerational homes for grandparents, grown kids, and extended family. In short, more options for the wide range of people who call Anchorage home.
More flexibility for homes and businesses to mix in urban zones
Anchorage assigns different rules to different parcels of land. Each set of rules defines what's known as a zone. There are 15 zones across the city, all with rules restricting what kinds of buildings can go on a particular property, such as homes, schools, shops, and restaurants. Zoning rules also set out the maximum heights of buildings, the minimum sizes of lots, the width of the margin between buildings and streets, and how many homes developers can build on each lot. Some zones only allow commercial development. Others allow only residential or only industrial.
One zone, called "B-3," is more flexible than most. B-3 is a mixed-use zone, meaning its rules allow housing and businesses to coexist on a lot. Think an ice cream shop, bookstore, and dental practice on the first floor, with housing above. This flexibility makes it popular with developers of multifamily homes, primarily Cook Inlet Housing Authority. The parcels tend to be located in more urbanized parts of Anchorage, giving residents relatively convenient access to schools, workplaces, parks, and amenities.
The Anchorage Assembly is considering an ordinance, AO 2024-102, aimed at lowering the cost of homebuilding in B-3. Currently, residential developments face more stringent limitations in the B-3 zone than businesses. For example, building garden apartments would face more code barriers, like lower height limits and mandatory architectural elements, than a motel with the exact same dimensions and number of units. The ordinance essentially would put residential developments in B-3 on the same regulatory footing as commercial ones.
The ordinance would also do away with mandated private open space, like dedicated yards or balconies for each apartment. While private open space sounds like a great idea on paper, making such space mandatory can limit the number of possible units and the viability of projects, while not necessarily improving the quality of the development. Dropping the private open space requirement is similar to the city's decision to get rid of parking mandates. As for parking, so too...

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