Opinions

Anchorage land use plan shouldn't put homeowners in the shade

Homeowners beware. Anchorage's developers are about to eliminate another important "quality of life" standard that affects our access to daylight. At the same time they are raising the height limits of big apartment buildings to be allowed in residential neighborhoods now dominated by two-story apartment houses, an additional 10 feet, to six stories.

These changes are tucked into AO 2015-100, a revision to the Title 21 zoning code, that goes to public hearing before the Assembly on Tuesday. The existing daylight protection standard they're eliminating is very minimal, and can even be waived by the planning director if it "would unduly restrict permissible development." But the existing standard gives planners a tool to get developers to place commercial and tall apartment buildings carefully on their lots to minimize sunlight loss to surrounding homeowners.

This time of year underscores the importance of every minute of daylight in the North. It can be argued that Anchorage needs stronger daylight protection standards, but here we are facing elimination of a bare-bones standard that we hoped would go into effect Jan. 1, 2016.

Most people agree that Anchorage needs to "fill in" and redevelop. We need housing near jobs, and streets that function for bikes and pedestrians as well as cars. And we need to do it right. It's no secret that new projects are more likely to succeed if neighborhoods are confident they will be protected through better building and site design.

Developers have had the upper hand with the Assembly since 2010. While they welcome new standards that will save them money, such as less required parking, they have worked diligently to eliminate the few community protections that were in our new zoning code:

• "Mixed use" zoning districts where tall apartment buildings would be welcomed.

• Greater variety of home designs and fronts along a street.

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• Design standards for commercial buildings.

• More "eyes on the street" with a minimum of windows on each wall.

• Commercial development concentrated in commercial districts -- thus leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill for single-purpose car trips and bigger roads.

• Contributions for adding public open space - - again leaving taxpayers to pay the bill.

• Requirements to use high density residential lands for high density residential development.

• Wildlife habitat and movement protections along lakes and streams.

The big picture of building a great northern city has been lost in developers' rush to have their cake and eat it too. Even before the current economic (and population) downturn, Anchorage's growth rate has been very slow:

• Experts say it will take 100 years before downtown fills in enough to become a vibrant urban center. But developers want to bring apartment towers into residential neighborhoods before this happens.

• Anchorage has not yet focused enough attention to build a great urban space in the 14 years since we adopted Anchorage 2020, our comprehensive plan. We've built sprawling malls and big box stores, but downtown still has too little housing.

• Street design can have more effect on transit ridership than how often the bus comes by. Transit ridership doubled along a section of Spenard Road after it was redesigned in the 1980s with landscaping and separated walkways, without increasing bus service.

Recently, there have been a lot of negative comments from developers that Title 21 needs to be "fixed" because it impedes growth. Rental company executives said it was "ridiculous" for Anchorage to follow through on our comprehensive plan, and that we do not need standards to protect daylight. But our plan was not just cooked up overnight. It was the product of an open, thoughtful process that looked at what we want our community to be. To attract new companies and employees, Anchorage must be more than just a cheap place to sleep.

Now we're facing one more assault on our quality of life, losing one the most important elements in our daily life -- daylight into our homes. AO 2015-100 should be amended to maintain the current daylight protection standard. It needs another amendment to keep the height limit for tall apartment buildings -- outside downtown and midtown -- to five stories, and not go to six stories.

Our children deserve a great northern city filled with people walking safely and comfortably, finding patches of sunlight even in the winter and living in housing that makes the neighborhood a more desirable place to live.

Cheryl Richardson is director of the Anchorage Citizens' Coalition, which works on neighborhood issues.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com

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