A new program in Anchorage aims to make it easier for people to build new housing on their property. This week, the municipality launched the first of several preapproved designs for tiny homes and other accessory dwelling units. The designs will be available to residents for free.
Clare Ross, with the assembly's legislative services office, said the program is part of a larger push to address the city’s housing shortage.
“I just want young people to be able to stay in Anchorage and live here,” she said. “That means we have to have a variety of houses. We need more apartment buildings. We need more single family homes, and we need more ADUs.”
The municipality worked with architects to design homes specifically for Anchorage’s climate and landscape. The city’s first design is an 800-square-foot, open-concept ADU over a two-car garage. Ross said a smaller design will be available in the coming weeks, followed this summer by what she said will be the most economical design.
Three years ago the Anchorage Assembly amended city code to make it much easier to build ADUs in the municipality. Data shows permits for ADUs have gone up noticeably since then, but Ross said numbers are still nowhere near city goals.
“For the most part, you can build them anywhere now,” she said. “So there's all this interest, but it's still really complicated, and so we wanted to just remove a couple barriers to make it even easier.”
The program includes a checklist to walk residents through the process, with estimated timelines and permitting costs.
The plans themselves are free, and they’re designed to be simple and less expensive to build. The cost of building in Anchorage is a major barrier, Ross said.
“That's one of the things we can't really control,” she said. “Why the muni wanted to do this preapproved plan is: ‘What are the costs that the muni can control, that we can lower and make easier for people?’ Because interest rates and building costs, we can't touch those.”
Ross said she hopes to have estimates for material costs by summer, so people will know what they’re getting into.
Anyone who lives in the municipality qualifies to use the designs, Ross said, although some places may need to amend structures slightly for things like snow load or flood plains.
Ross said the municipality plans to work closely with the first people who use the program, using feedback to adapt it to residents' needs. If the program is popular, they’ll likely add more design options.
