Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How can I share my thoughts and opinions on the Hillside District Plan?
A. Your input is very valuable to this planning process, and there are many ways you can share your opinions and wisdom about the Hillside. You can submit comments via our online comment submission form, you can email Agnew::Beck, you can attend public meetings and workshops (see the Schedule of Events).
Q. How can I review drafts of the Hillside District Plan?
A. Drafts of the Hillside District Plan will be posted to this website as they become available.
Q. What topics will the Hillside District Plan cover?
A. The Hillside District Plan will cover a number of issues, including residential densities, water and sewer service, drainage, roads, trails and open space. Five sub-contractors are being hired by MUNI to work on specific issues: a resident mail survey, drainage, water and sewer, transportation and trail access, and on-site services.
Q. How does the Hillside District Plan fit in with other planning processes for the Hillside?
A. The Hillside District Plan is an area-specific plan that will refine the goals articulated in Anchorage 2020: Anchorage Bowl Comprehensive Plan, as well as bring together a number of separate, topic-specific planning processes into one Hillside plan. The Hillside District Plan must be consistent with the requirements of the Anchorage 2020 Plan and update the Hillside Wastewater Management Plan.
Q. Anchorage 2020, the Anchorage Bowl Comprehensive Plan, calls for the creation of the Hillside District Plan. When was Anchorage 2020 prepared, by whom, and what authority does it have for shaping the future development of the Hillside?
A. Anchorage 2020 was prepared by the Municipality of Anchorage Planning Department and adopted by the municipal Assembly on February 20, 2001. It is a blueprint for development in the Anchorage Bowl during the next 20 years. The Anchorage 2020/Anchorage Bowl Comprehensive Plan (2020) outlined a broad framework for development within the Municipality. 2020 is considered a blueprint for how to direct future growth; it is not intended to be the final word on Anchorage’s development by prescribing the future in great detail. The Comprehensive Plan does not preclude future decisions from being made about Anchorage’s development. Rather, 2020 encourages future analysis and outlines specific methods to achieve future determinations on land use and other issues. Of importance to the Hillside District Plan, 2020 details that Neighborhood and District Plans need to be developed to address specific areas of town. It states, “The plan is general in nature. It will be further refined by ordinances, by revised land use and zoning maps, by area-specific plans [i.e. HDP], and by other policy tools.” (p. 3).
The Hillside District Plan is an area-specific plan intended to “further refine” the vision outlined in Anchorage 2020. The following features of 2020 will guide the Hillside District Plan
- The Preferred Growth Scenario for Anchorage (which was informed by an extensive public participation process in which the community identified key values and a vision for Anchorage.)
- The Hillside Issue Snapshot
- The Land Use Concept Plan Map and Conceptual Urban/Rural Service Boundary
- The Projected Growth Allocations
- Plan Implementation Policies and Strategies
Q. The Anchorage 2020 Anchorage Bowl Comprehensive Plan calls for between 4,000 and 6,000 new housing units to be developed in the Hillside project area between 2001 and 2020. What is the basis for this recommendation and how much of this "allocation target" has already occurred?
A. One of the main issues addressed by the 2020 plan is the need accommodate anticipated growth in the Anchorage Bowl. The 2020 plan responds to this issue by presenting a “growth allocation” map and tables setting out targets for the location and amount of growth, with the broad intent of having different areas of the Municipality handle their “share” of anticipated growth. As the plan states (p. 58): “The Growth Allocation Map will guide the preparation of land use and residential intensity maps to be developed as part of neighborhood and district plans.”
The 2020 plan’s allocation for the southeast (SE) district (which includes the entire Hillside District Plan area plus a portion of Hillside Park and the subdivision north east of Abbott and Abbott Loop Roads) is for a population increase of between 12,400 – 18,600 people through 2020. This is estimated to generate a need for 4,000-6,000 dwelling units. The Comprehensive Plan sets out the following housing allocation for the SE/Hillside area:
- 30% multifamily
- 43% urban SF
- 27% rural SF
Anchorage 2020 also states that growth in the SE sub-area is expected to follow the existing pattern of single-family subdivisions and low-density residential development. It recommends that within the urban service boundary area, the SE area follows established settlement patterns with some limited rezoning to allow for small-lot home sites. Medium density multi-family is also assumed to be permitted in west/lower Hillside. The rural portion is expected to remain low density. However, as stated previously, the Comprehensive Plan defers to the Hillside District Plan to recommend specific changes to the location of the sewer service area boundary and define any allowances for higher residential densities. It also suggests the exploration of new technologies for on-site water supply and wastewater disposal (p. 66). The Comprehensive Plan further recommends that the subdivision ordinance be revised to reduce fire hazards, provide slope development guidelines, and retain natural vegetation in order to foster sustainable development.”
A number of people have asked about the amount of development that has occurred in the SE area since the 2020 plan was adopted in 2001. Research is now in progress to get a precise answer. The preliminary answer is as follows: there have been approximately 800 new housing units developed in the area since 2001, and approximately 1000 additional units are in various stages of consideration for future development.
Q. Does the Hillside have the physical capacity to support the level of development called for in the 2020 plan?
A. An initial analysis of current conditions by the Municipal Planning Department – looking at parcel sizes, existing zoning and physical constraints - shows the Hillside can support approximately 4500 new housing units. This falls in the low to middle of the target range of housing identified in the 2020 Plan called for in the Anchorage 2020 plan. A more complete assessment of the capacity of the area to accommodate growth will be completed as part of HDP process.
Q. Does the HDP have to strictly follow the 2020 plan?
A. Anchorage 2020 provides guidance for the development of the Hillside District Plan but it also states that the specifics on issues such as the amount, location and character of development will be decided through the Hillside District Plan process.
Q. Doesn’t the 2020 plan say there will be no neighborhood commercial on the Hillside?
A. The land use concept plan and policy map indicates no specific sites for Neighborhood Commercial; however, a footnote to the map indicates that “potential sites for Neighborhood Commercial Centers on the Hillside will be determined through the Hillside District Plan (Anchorage 2020, p. 50).”
Q. Does the 2020 plan set an “urban-rural” service boundary?
A. Anchorage 2020 illustrates a generalized, preliminary “urban-rural” service boundary in the Hillside, and then calls for the issue to be addressed in detail in the Hillside District Plan. HDP recommendations may lead to a more nuanced response to this issue than one single boundary between “urban” and “rural,” for example, identifying transitional areas that have a mix of characteristics.
Q. Do the Title 21 policies now being developed have to follow the 2020 plan, and of the eventual Hillside District Plan?
A. The update of the Anchorage Land Use Code, Title 21, follows from the completion of the Anchorage 2020 comprehensive plan and will provide tools to help implement the recommendations of the plan.
Title 21 provides one of the primary means for implementing the policies of 2020 and other plans developed in the Municipality. In general, Title 21 should be consistent with the intentions of the 2020 plan, and provide more detailed policies to carry out the broad directives of the 2020 plan. Because Title 21 is being developed after the completion of 2020, and because Title 21 goes into more detail than 2020, the specific regulations of Title 21 may be different from the 2020 plan on some specific issues.
The Hillside District Plan will be developed considering current and proposed Title 21 regulations. The HDP process may lead to recommendations for regulations that differ from those of Title 21. If this occurs, recommendations to change Title 21 can be brought forward to the Assembly at the time the HDP is presented for approval. Such changes could be recommended specifically for the Hillside, or for the Municipality as a whole.
Q. What is the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) and how does it work?
A. The Hillside District Plan Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) is a 13-member advisory group that meets monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) during the Hillside planning process. Committee members are broadly representative of the interests, expertise, and perspectives of the greater community to be affected by the Hillside District Plan (see CAC Member List (83 KB)). In addition to acting as a sounding-board for the work of the consultants and Muni staff on the Hillside District Plan, the group assists with public workshops and has representatives on other committees and planning initiatives such as the HDP Project Work Group, the Oversight Committee and Community Councils. See the CAC Meeting Information Sheet for more information.