INDIRECT LEGISLATION Decided

Anchorage data-center zoning ordinance AO 2026-27

On March 27, 2026 the Anchorage Assembly adopted ordinance AO 2026-27 in a 10 to 2 vote, defining data centers in the municipal zoning code for the first time. It confines them to commercial and industrial zones, requires landscaping buffers and enclosed power equipment, and requires written statements from electric and water utilities that the grid has sufficient system capacity before a project proceeds. Members Scott Myers and Keith McCormick voted against it.

DECIDES · ANCHORAGE ASSEMBLY

How the public reaches this

The elected Anchorage Assembly adopted the ordinance in a public 10 to 2 vote. Residents reach it through Assembly elections and public testimony.

Timeline

MAR 27Assembly adopts AO 2026-27 (10 to 2)

Sources

Every document a fact on this page was checked against.

  1. Anchorage Daily News

    2026-03-27

How this decision moved

One dated line per material change, oldest first.

  1. 2026-07-18 Tracked from this run. Anchorage adopted the data center land use framework 10 to 2 on March 27, the first local guardrail of its kind in the state. Sponsored by Anna Brawley and Daniel Volland. Added because Carousel No. 10 turns on whether a Railbelt data center helps or hurts ratepayers, and this ordinance is the one enacted local guardrail while the state bill stalls.

Articles on this decision

Each of these verified a claim against a document this decision also rests on.

Cite this

Alaska AI Docket, Anchorage data-center zoning ordinance AO 2026-27. Tracked since July 18, 2026, last verified July 18, 2026. https://alaskaaihq.com/docket/anchorage-ao-2026-27-data-center-zoning/ · Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. This decision is also available as structured data in the docket JSON, item id anchorage-ao-2026-27-data-center-zoning.