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Staff briefs Planning Commission on new housing tax-exemption ordinance and Chena Riverfront Plan update
Summary
Community planning staff told the Planning Commission the Assembly passed a tax-exemption ordinance to encourage multifamily housing built through 2028 (property-tax exemptions of three to 10 years depending on size) and that the Chena Riverfront Commission formed a subcommittee to update the Comprehensive Plan riverfront element.
Community planning staff briefed the Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission on Feb. 10 about recent Assembly action and planning work intended to address housing shortages and a forthcoming Chena Riverfront Plan update.
Kellen Skillman, the borough’s Community Planning Director, said the Assembly on Jan. 29 passed a tax‑exemption ordinance intended to spur multifamily construction: new multifamily housing built between now and 2028 could receive property‑tax exemptions ranging from three to 10 years depending on the project’s size and applicable limits. “The mayor proposed an ordinance... any new multifamily housing construction... constructed between now and 2028... could potentially get their property taxes exempted by anywhere from 3 years to 10 years, depending on the size of the development,” Skillman told the commission.
Skillman said the borough had a similar ordinance in place for about two years previously, resulting in roughly 160 housing units developed under that program. He emphasized that the ordinance includes location, unit‑mix, reporting and other limitations; applicants must file required reports with the assessing department to qualify.
Skillman also told the commission the Chena Riverfront Commission has formed a subcommittee to begin updating the Chena Riverfront Plan, an element of the Comprehensive Plan that was last fully adopted around 2015 and calls for periodic updates. Commissioners asked whether the update was driven by new projects or by the plan’s scheduled 10‑year refresh; Skillman said both development pressure along the river and the plan’s age prompted the subcommittee to act now.
Staff encouraged commissioners and the public to take a short, newly released comprehensive‑plan survey and noted outreach steps including email blasts to a roughly 1,000‑person contact list, printed flyers and mayoral newsletter distribution. Staff said full survey results will be returned to the commission for consideration.
