In Anchorage, Alaska, planners are rolling out a substantial new version of their zoning code, which includes some design requirements like no blank walls. Business owners are up in arms over the proposed changes.
Rosemary Shinohara writes, "A group called the Building Owners and Managers Association has started a petition drive to get the city to kill the massive, seven-year-long, 14-chapter modernization of local zoning laws, of which commercial design standards are part. They want the city to stay with existing code and amend it so it "meets the needs of concerned Anchorage property owners."
And some well-respected architects worry the pending rules will be a flop: They might get rid of the city's worst architecture but bring down the level of the rest by making architects choose features from lists."
FULL STORY: Anchorage zoning code en route to an update
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