Juneau Assembly to introduce broad Title 49 rewrite; Planning Commission gets 60 days for review

The Juneau City and Borough Assembly voted on Jan. 27 to introduce a proposed rewrite of Title 49 — the city’s land‑use and zoning code — and refer the package to the Planning Commission for a 60‑day review period.

Rob Dumaschel, the manager’s special project planning manager, presented the proposed amendments as the first technical wave of a larger Title 49 modernization effort. The proposal focuses on procedural and clarity changes intended to reduce uncertainty and delays for applicants, and it advances several substantive items the advisory committee prioritized, including accessory dwelling units (ADUs), caretaker units, and transition‑zone upzoning pathways.

Key elements in the package include removing minimum lot‑size and lot‑width barriers for ADUs, exempting ADUs from density calculations in many cases, allowing a maximum attached ADU footprint of up to 1,000 square feet (subject to zone setbacks), and expanding the director’s authority to make equivalent‑use determinations to reduce discretionary public hearings for clearly similar uses. The draft also proposes clearer rules for amendments to approved permits, standardized “adjustment to approve” procedures, and updated rules of construction (code interpretation guidance) to…