Latest news with #SuzanneLaFrance
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Early proposal for homeless parking area in South Anchorage gets backlash from nearby businesses
May 30—The Municipality of Anchorage is pursuing a plan to allow around 50 vehicles to park overnight on two pieces of municipal land. The measure, referred to as "designated parking" by members of Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration, is one of several efforts to make new shelter options available for homeless people in the city. Though officials are still in the early stages of the process, one of the city-owned parcels that is a candidate for the vehicle parking site is in South Anchorage, close to several large businesses. This week, rumors about the plan spread on social media sites like Facebook and Nextdoor. By Wednesday, one of the two Assembly members representing South Anchorage was posting to social media about the proposal, referring to it both as a "homeless camp" and "a car camping site." "I learned the same way everybody else did," said Assembly member Keith McCormick on Thursday, explaining he first heard about the nascent proposal through a Facebook post by a local towing company that was widely shared. "I got dozens of emails, phone calls on my personal phone." The potential "designated parking" site in South Anchorage is municipal land, an easement running down what is technically a section of Cordova Street between 104th and 106th avenues and behind a large Bass Pro Shop that many people still refer to as Cabela's, which it used to be before the two companies merged. The administration has not identified other specific locations, but an information sheet prepared by city officials said they are considering "up to two areas for overnight parking" that could host up to 25 vehicles each. The idea from the LaFrance administration is to create a secure place for homeless people living in their cars, trucks or RVs to stay overnight, rather than guiding them into congregate shelters or having them skirt rules by parking on residential streets or big store parking lots. "This is intended to reduce illegal and unsafe car camping and the impact of unmanaged vehicles in residential and public areas during the summer months. It is a seasonal public health and safety measure to help prevent people from parking in unsafe, unauthorized, or high-traffic locations," according to a statement from the mayor's office. The administration said that alongside the new overnight parking areas, they will ramp up police enforcement "against prohibited vehicular camping everywhere else in the Municipality," and plan to introduce an ordinance to the Assembly that would let the municipality impound "any vehicle used for camping outside of designated parking." [Large homeless camp in Davis Park will be cleared in mid-June, Anchorage mayor says] During Mayor Dave Bronson's tenure, members of his administration worked with the Assembly on examining the potential of sanctioning overnight vehicle parking in a controlled environment as a tactic for managing homelessness. Though the plans never came to fruition, an ordinance submitted by the Bronson administration in 2024 and approved by the Assembly that spring tightened prohibitions on homeless encampments and included provisions on permitting "designated safe parking areas." "In recognition of the need for temporary housing for homeless persons living in vehicles, it is the purpose of this section to allow religious, non-profit, and governmental organizations to use property owned or controlled by them as designated safe parking areas, while preventing harmful effects associated with such uses, including crime or public nuisance," the ordinance states. The LaFrance administration pursued the idea. In a document it sent to the Assembly this spring, the administration included a brief description of the "designated parking" plan that was forming. "Vehicles must be roadworthy, and residents must have a valid driver's license. The site will be operated by a contractor who can offer security and facilities including bathrooms and showers," according to the document, titled "Turning the Tide." In a May 21 presentation to the Assembly's Housing and Homelessness Committee, Thea Agnew Bemben, a special assistant to the mayor, told members the administration hopes to have the Anchorage Health Department put out a Request For Proposal, or RFP, early this summer. The city aims to contract out services running the "designated parking" site, enforcing rules, managing the property and making sure occupants have their vehicle registration in order. Many of the operational details involved in the plan will be determined as a contractor is selected and protocols are implemented. According to the city's information sheet, parking will only be allowed overnight, with all vehicles required to leave by 8 a.m. Garbage disposal and bathrooms will be on site. At least two "safety monitors" will be present to ensure rules are followed, and outreach teams will go to the locations to "connect participants to housing, job training, and health care." The program will end in the fall before the weather gets cold. "This will not be a permanent location. Sleeping in vehicles is not safe in the winter, so designated parking will not be available after October. Designated parking is meant to be a temporary, cost-effective way to supplement Anchorage's shelter safety net during the summer," according to the administration. Though the city already has the money it would need to stand up the program, Bemben said the Assembly and public will have a chance to weigh in when the RFP and operations contract come before them. The information was shared by the mayor's office in a public meeting of the Assembly's Housing and Homelessness Committee last week. McCormick, who is vice chair of the committee, did not attend the meeting because of a work conflict. He said the mayor's office did not reach out to the South Anchorage Assembly members to give them a heads-up that the easement on Cordova Street was being looked at. On Thursday, he said he learned about the proposed site from a social media post by Vulcan Towing and Recovery, which leases a sizable vehicle lot running alongside the municipal easement. "Letting everybody know in South Anchorage that this is coming to our neighborhood. Please share this post on all social media sites," wrote Vulcan's owner, Justin Creech, on his Facebook page. "This location they have selected for a homeless camp will be directly next to Cabela's and target off of C St. It is directly next-door to my lot." Vulcan Towing and Recovery did not immediately respond to an email requesting to speak with Creech. A few other individuals with business connections in the area also weighed in online, criticizing efforts to establish homelessness resources in South Anchorage and accusing the mayor's office and Assembly of trying to sneak the policy through. Informal car camps have been a significant issue for the municipality in recent years. A sprawling encampment with a mix of tents and vehicles on Fairbanks Street last year saw a shooting death, widespread drug use, piles of garbage and violence before it was cleared. The year prior, close to 100 vehicles gradually amassed at an enormous encampment around Third Avenue and Ingra Street, including box trucks and dilapidated city buses being rented out to people to sleep in. Many of the people living in cars, trucks, and RVs say they are one of the few safe places for them to stay, store their belongings and shelter from weather, even if the vehicles don't run. In a video he posted to social media, McCormick said he has reservations about the proposal because of its potential impacts on businesses. "We've got Cabela's, (for) all the dads, all the guys, and outdoor ladies here in town. We got Target next door. Huge shopping area," McCormick said in the video. "This is one of the mainstay shopping spots that they just built for South Anchorage. Smashburger. Starbucks. Orangetheory. Yogas, Pilates. Like, this is the happening place to be." In a later interview, McCormick said his other concern is about the "scatter shelter model" of dispersing smaller facilities all around town that are more specifically tailored to the needs of different subgroups of people without permanent homes. "When we spread them out to every reach of our city, we can't get them the services they truly need ... I think we need to consolidate our resources," McCormick said by phone. Another worry he has is that after vehicles leave the designated parking area, they will be driven to lots belonging to nearby stores to wait out the day. "This is the central area for shopping, where moms go to buy diapers at Target," he said. "We're creating an unfriendly business environment in the center of South Anchorage's new shopping area." Farina Brown, a special assistant to LaFrance focused on housing and homelessness, said Thursday that the administration is "very excited to move forward with designated parking," and expects its RFP to be ready in early June, with the aim of having two sites available in July.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anchorage leaders move to change 'site access' rules they say hamper new housing development
May 29—The Anchorage mayor's office and members of the Assembly are pushing for a package of changes to zoning rules that they say are impeding development and stalling new housing construction the city desperately needs. "Anchorage needs to build more housing, but some of our tools are broken. To build the future we want, first we need to fix our tools," Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said in a statement released alongside two influential members of the Assembly, a signal the administration is aligned with legislators on the measure. The ordinance from the administration, Assembly Vice Chair Anna Brawley and member Daniel Volland is 51 pages of technical adjustments to a set of policies loosely labeled "site access." Those are the rules scattered throughout Title 21, the building code, that cover requirements for various access routes people use to get into their homes and other buildings. "The proposal is complex but could be summarized as a simplification of standards for driveways, parking areas, and building frontages, with an emphasis on flexibility while providing for better physical definitions of private property and the street," according to a staff report from the municipality's Planning Department. The proposed reforms, which are up for public testimony in June, came out of a monthslong working group that brought together developers, planners, community advocates, elected officials and others to address building rules that were hindering new projects. "I would characterize this one less as 'unlocking a bunch of new housing.' This is fixing something that isn't working in the code now," Brawley said in an interview. Over the last several years, elected officials from all different political backgrounds have been trying to change planning and zoning rules in ways that make it easier to build new residential units. But not all those adjustments have worked. Brawley said there are big sections of the building code that are so technical, cumbersome, and hard to understand that simply parsing it has become a delay for builders. "If the code is too complicated to read, then it's not working," Brawley said. The new proposal simplifies code around site access development. It also grants more administrative discretion for the many instances where projects, especially in-fill development and new multifamily structures, involve nuances and variables that are hard to completely square with written regulations. "What problem were we trying to solve here?" asked Daniel Mckenna-Foster from the city's Long-Range Planning Division during a February meeting hosted by the Federation of Community Councils. "It's really about the interaction between private properties and the how people get from one to the other." Many of the requirements addressed in the new ordinance have been on pause since the Assembly passed a moratorium on implementing them several months ago. That pause is set to expire this November. The working group proposal, which was endorsed by the Planning and Zoning Commission in March before it went along to the Assembly, would replace the previous site access rules. "It is more expensive and challenging than ever to build housing in Anchorage," said Tyler Robinson, Vice President of Cook Inlet Housing Authority, in a statement released after the working group made it's recommendations. "The changes to code introduced by the Site Access ordinance fundamentally broke our ability to provide more housing to the community — from single-family homes to large apartment buildings." LaFrance has made housing a policy priority for her administration, emphasizing that the municipality and Assembly need a multi-prong approach to add 10,000 new housing units in the coming decade. The administration, along with allies on the Assembly who are pushing for better development strategies, say one piece of that is promptly scrapping policies that aren't working. "This is fixing problems we already know about, this isn't new policy," Brawley said of the new proposal. "I think it's both the product and the process we wanted to highlight." The Assembly will hear public testimony on the ordinance at its June 10 meeting.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
LaFrance administration aims to set up 24 'microunits' in Anchorage pilot program for homeless
May 26—Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration told members of the Assembly that it hopes to have a new pilot project providing homeless residents substance abuse treatment in a small community of "microunits" by October. "This could be unrealistic," special assistant to the mayor Thea Agnew Bemben said of the tight timeline. "But we're just gonna give it a whirl." Bemben detailed the plan to members of the Assembly during a Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting Wednesday. The goal of the "Microunit Recovery Residences" pilot program, according to Bemben's presentation, is to "create immediate access to transitional living and treatment for people experiencing homelessness with substance use disorders." To do that, the administration aims to put 24 tiny houses on a piece of municipal land, potentially near the U-Med District in the area of Tudor and Elmore roads. "These are small structures," Bemben said — around 100 square feet per unit. "Inside you just basically have the basics for one person. So it's a bed, some storage, a fridge, a microwave, a window." Outside the single-person domiciles are bathrooms and, potentially, on-site showers as well as a communal indoor space. [Town Square Park, Anchorage's troubled downtown centerpiece, is set for a major overhaul] The municipality had been studying the idea of using tiny homes as a partial solution to homelessness since 2023, she said, and it was looked at separately by members of the Assembly too. For several months the administration has consulted locally with a similar initiative, In Our Backyard, which as of last year had six small units for seniors set up on the property of a church in Fairview. They also took lessons from different tiny-home projects in Atlanta; Corvallis, Oregon; and elsewhere. There would be two components: operations and treatment. In the plan Bemben presented to the Assembly, the Anchorage Community Development Authority would oversee physical components of the pilot. That would mean purchasing or building the tiny homes, developing the selected parcel of land and connecting the site to utilities, including electricity and water. The Anchorage Community Development Authority is a quasi-governmental municipal entity that traditionally has overseen parking lots, garages and meters but has increasingly helped connect public and private resources for redevelopment projects in the municipality, particularly housing. Bemben said the administration wants the Assembly to approve a plan to use about half of the $2.4 million the municipality currently has from a legal settlement with opioid manufacturers that it believes can be spent on the program, since it is geared toward people in treatment and recovery from substance abuse. Though the exact amount is still being fine-tuned, Bemben said they think $1.2 million of the settlement passed to the authority will be enough to hire a contractor to construct and install the microunits and get them set up for tenants. "I just want to double check my math here," said Assembly member Zac Johnson, who represents South Anchorage. "$1.2 million for 24 units to have them built and connected to services, I mean that's about $50,000 a pop —" "$47,000," Bemben interjected. "That's pretty good value," Johnson replied. The second component of the pilot is drug and alcohol treatment as a requirement for eligibility. "This is designed to be a very low-barrier way of getting people into treatment," Bemben said. "In order to remain there you would have to remain compliant with the program." The municipality would not be the one funding treatment and operating costs. As early as June 10, the administration could submit a measure to the Assembly that includes a request for $500,000 for startup costs to help a third-party health care provider get a treatment program established in the recovery residences, Bemben said. The Anchorage Health Department will be in charge of selecting a provider that is qualified to charge Medicaid for behavioral health services to residents. Creating a program that can bill the federal health care system will be essential to making it financially sustainable, Bemben said, something they'd learned from looking at treatment provider peers in Wasilla and Fairbanks. Assembly member Daniel Volland, from the downtown district, asked how standing up a community of two dozen tiny homes compared to the municipality buying an apartment or hotel building to provide shelter and treatment, an approach to homelessness and addiction the municipality has pursued with varying degrees of focus for several years. Bemben told him the city should be working on both. "The advantage of this is it can be done quickly," she said. In the ideal timeline, Bemben said, the Assembly will approve funding for the pilot program in June, a contractor will be selected in July, and work begun in August or September so that tenants are able to move in in October, before winter hits. Developing the treatment program with a health care provider would happen simultaneously on a parallel track. A location for the tiny homes has not been selected, but the prime candidate is a municipal-owned parcel near the Tozier track by the intersection of Tudor and Elmore roads. Bemben said the site had a lot of what the city needs to make it successful and cost effective like paving, fencing and proximity to utilities. "This one's the most promising so far," she said. Assembly Chair Chris Constant pointed out that the municipality owns that particular parcel in a land swap that was part of a redevelopment plan that imagined adding more permanent housing, a new Health Department building and a grocery store to the area. Bemben responded that one of the draws of a pilot program was that if it didn't work, then the microunits could be moved elsewhere or scrapped entirely. "We have choices after that two-year period," she said. Erin Baldwin Day, who was elected this spring to represent the area, told Bemben that neighborhoods around that land have had a lot of experience with homeless encampments in the area. She asked the administration, if the parcel is ultimately selected, to commit to holding town halls or community listening sessions to inform residents of the plan and build support for it.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
LaFrance administration aims to set up 24 'microunits' in Anchorage pilot program for homeless
May 26—Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration told members of the Assembly that it hopes to have a new pilot project providing homeless residents substance abuse treatment in a small community of "microunits" by October. "This could be unrealistic," special assistant to the mayor Thea Agnew Bemben said of the tight timeline. "But we're just gonna give it a whirl." Bemben detailed the plan to members of the Assembly during a Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting Wednesday. The goal of the "Microunit Recovery Residences" pilot program, according to Bemben's presentation, is to "create immediate access to transitional living and treatment for people experiencing homelessness with substance use disorders." To do that, the administration aims to put 24 tiny houses on a piece of municipal land, potentially near the U-Med District in the area of Tudor and Elmore roads. "These are small structures," Bemben said — around 100 square feet per unit. "Inside you just basically have the basics for one person. So it's a bed, some storage, a fridge, a microwave, a window." Outside the single-person domiciles are bathrooms and, potentially, on-site showers as well as a communal indoor space. [Town Square Park, Anchorage's troubled downtown centerpiece, is set for a major overhaul] The municipality had been studying the idea of using tiny homes as a partial solution to homelessness since 2023, she said, and it was looked at separately by members of the Assembly too. For several months the administration has consulted locally with a similar initiative, In Our Backyard, which as of last year had six small units for seniors set up on the property of a church in Fairview. They also took lessons from different tiny-home projects in Atlanta; Corvallis, Oregon; and elsewhere. There would be two components: operations and treatment. In the plan Bemben presented to the Assembly, the Anchorage Community Development Authority would oversee physical components of the pilot. That would mean purchasing or building the tiny homes, developing the selected parcel of land and connecting the site to utilities, including electricity and water. The Anchorage Community Development Authority is a quasi-governmental municipal entity that traditionally has overseen parking lots, garages and meters but has increasingly helped connect public and private resources for redevelopment projects in the municipality, particularly housing. Bemben said the administration wants the Assembly to approve a plan to use about half of the $2.4 million the municipality currently has from a legal settlement with opioid manufacturers that it believes can be spent on the program, since it is geared toward people in treatment and recovery from substance abuse. Though the exact amount is still being fine-tuned, Bemben said they think $1.2 million of the settlement passed to the authority will be enough to hire a contractor to construct and install the microunits and get them set up for tenants. "I just want to double check my math here," said Assembly member Zac Johnson, who represents South Anchorage. "$1.2 million for 24 units to have them built and connected to services, I mean that's about $50,000 a pop —" "$47,000," Bemben interjected. "That's pretty good value," Johnson replied. The second component of the pilot is drug and alcohol treatment as a requirement for eligibility. "This is designed to be a very low-barrier way of getting people into treatment," Bemben said. "In order to remain there you would have to remain compliant with the program." The municipality would not be the one funding treatment and operating costs. As early as June 10, the administration could submit a measure to the Assembly that includes a request for $500,000 for startup costs to help a third-party health care provider get a treatment program established in the recovery residences, Bemben said. The Anchorage Health Department will be in charge of selecting a provider that is qualified to charge Medicaid for behavioral health services to residents. Creating a program that can bill the federal health care system will be essential to making it financially sustainable, Bemben said, something they'd learned from looking at treatment provider peers in Wasilla and Fairbanks. Assembly member Daniel Volland, from the downtown district, asked how standing up a community of two dozen tiny homes compared to the municipality buying an apartment or hotel building to provide shelter and treatment, an approach to homelessness and addiction the municipality has pursued with varying degrees of focus for several years. Bemben told him the city should be working on both. "The advantage of this is it can be done quickly," she said. In the ideal timeline, Bemben said, the Assembly will approve funding for the pilot program in June, a contractor will be selected in July, and work begun in August or September so that tenants are able to move in in October, before winter hits. Developing the treatment program with a health care provider would happen simultaneously on a parallel track. A location for the tiny homes has not been selected, but the prime candidate is a municipal-owned parcel near the Tozier track by the intersection of Tudor and Elmore roads. Bemben said the site had a lot of what the city needs to make it successful and cost effective like paving, fencing and proximity to utilities. "This one's the most promising so far," she said. Assembly Chair Chris Constant pointed out that the municipality owns that particular parcel in a land swap that was part of a redevelopment plan that imagined adding more permanent housing, a new Health Department building and a grocery store to the area. Bemben responded that one of the draws of a pilot program was that if it didn't work, then the microunits could be moved elsewhere or scrapped entirely. "We have choices after that two-year period," she said. Erin Baldwin Day, who was elected this spring to represent the area, told Bemben that neighborhoods around that land have had a lot of experience with homeless encampments in the area. She asked the administration, if the parcel is ultimately selected, to commit to holding town halls or community listening sessions to inform residents of the plan and build support for it.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Anchorage Assembly candidate Q&A: Kameron Perez-Verdia
Mar. 17—The Anchorage Daily News asked candidates for Anchorage Assembly to answer a series of issue questions. Read all of them here. Name: Kameron Perez-Verdia — District: 3 — Age: 53 — Occupation: President/CEO, Alaska Humanities Forum, member, Anchorage Assembly — Website: Candidate background: I'm a lifelong Alaskan who grew up in Utqiaġvik. My wife, Monica, works as a nurse practitioner and together we have been raising our two daughters, Isabel and Mariela, here in Anchorage. For more than 25 years, I've worked in senior leadership positions for Alaska-based organizations, including Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Catholic Social Services and APU. I served for four years on the Anchorage School Board and have served six years on the Assembly. I currently serve as president and CEO of Alaska Humanities Forum, working to strengthen communities across Alaska. Why are you running for the Anchorage Assembly, and what makes you qualified for the job? Over the years, I've seen the challenges our city faces — whether it's homelessness, public safety, or access to mental health services — and I believe we can do better. While we have made significant progress since I first ran in 2019, I'm running for reelection to continue finding practical, long-term solutions to the most pressing issues facing our community. I have worked on increasing Anchorage's housing supply, investing in affordable and accessible child care, and bolstering public safety through hand-in-hand collaboration with our first responders. The work is not over, and we need experienced, dedicated leadership to get the job done. What is the most important problem facing Anchorage? How would you address it? We need to tackle the intertwined problems of public safety and homelessness. On the Assembly, I've led initiatives to improve public safety and mental health crisis response. I've championed efforts to build additional affordable housing and enhance services that connect individuals to care such as the launch of the Mobile Crisis Team. Moving forward, the Municipality must continue to work with community partners to expand transitional, workforce and affordable housing and bring an end to dangerous encampments. Drug dealing, theft and public safety concerns are impacting families and businesses, and we must take stronger action to address these issues. While not all individuals experiencing homelessness are committing crimes, many are vulnerable to criminal activity happening around them. We must continue to enforce existing laws, improve coordination between law enforcement and outreach teams and ensure that homeless individuals are connected to these services and stable housing. Please give a letter grade, A-F, for Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's performance as mayor. Explain. B. Mayor Suzanne LaFrance has shown strong leadership in several areas, particularly in community engagement and advocating for policies that stabilize our economy. Her efforts to improve transparency and work collaboratively with the Assembly are commendable. However, overall there will always be areas that require more immediate, bold action. While she has made progress, there's still work to be done in implementing long-term solutions to homelessness and public safety, which is something I look forward to continuing to work on as a team. Please give a letter grade, A-F, for the performance of the current Assembly. Explain. B. The current Assembly has made strides in addressing critical issues like homelessness and housing. However, the body as a whole has struggled to reach consensus on critical issues and has sometimes been reactive rather than proactive. There is a clear need for more decisive action and collaboration to effectively tackle the city's challenges which will be made easier under the new administration. What's your vision for improving and diversifying Anchorage's economy? Anchorage is facing numerous economic challenges — outmigration of working families, rising costs of housing and basic necessities and lack of new economic opportunities. Now is the time to lock in on economic rejuvenation. We need a pro-development agenda that attracts more jobs, creates a favorable environment for small businesses, provides incentives to spark economic growth and innovation, lowers barriers to entrepreneurship, and promotes thoughtful development. I am also interested in exploring alternative sources of revenue to diversify our tax base and reduce the uneven burden of taxation on some segments of Anchorage's population. What other important issue would you like to discuss? Education has been a cornerstone of my personal and professional life. My parents, who dedicated their careers to teaching and administration, shaped my understanding of the importance of strong schools in building strong communities. As a parent of two children currently attending public schools in Anchorage, I have a vested interest in ensuring that our public education system thrives. Moving forward, education will continue to be one of my highest priorities. I will continue to advocate for increased investments in early childhood education and our entire education system, so that teachers and students have the resources they need to succeed.
