Bus barn locale questioned

MAT-SU — Local contractor and developer Dorwin Smith has owned a piece of property fronting the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Hyer Spur Road since 1996. Last winter Smith found a tenant for the property who has put him in the precarious position of becoming a traffic planner for the state, and the target of ire for frustrated homeowners who live near his latest commercial development.

Smith's lessee is First Student, a company that operated 12,000 school buses in 26 states last year, and is the new contractor for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. First Student plans to bring approximately 150 buses to the Valley to be serviced and parked on the Hyer Road side of Smith's lot. Smith's company, D. J. Excavation & Development, the general contractor for the development, and subcontractors are working on three steel frame buildings at the property. One of the buildings is a bus barn, the other two face the highway and are the beginning of a business park.

Two homeowners showed up at a borough platting board meeting Thursday, July 5, to express their concerns about Smith subdividing the 17-acre property. Smith had already asked to delay the hearing and no one from his company was at the meeting. Smith said that's because he is waiting for the results of a traffic analysis, which he financed.

"No one from that subdivision has called me," Smith said. "They've called the Frontiersman and they've called (borough assembly member) Dan Kelly, but they haven't called me."

Last week Kelly said he was going to propose a resolution asking the state to look closely at the traffic projections and add a signal light at Hyer Spur and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway if it's deemed necessary.

Smith's traffic plan is to have three driveways leading to Hyer Spur Road, which the buses will take to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. On the highway side of the property, Smith plans to subdivide the property into six commercial lots that will be accessed via a frontage road. Smith knows his plans for the property will likely be scrutinized, but he's confident that over time his neighbors will be spending money at the businesses that locate there, and that they'll appreciate the convenience.

"I don't want any of my developments to have a negative impact on the surrounding community," Smith said.

Stephanie Veteto lives on Chickadee Drive and uses Hyer Spur to get out of her neighborhood and onto the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Veteto's husband spoke to the platting board last week, and Veteto forwarded a list of her concerns to the Frontiersman. The Vetetos aren't just worried about traffic but also air, light, and noise pollution, and even criminal activity Veteto believes retail frontage could bring to the neighborhood.

"No one knew this neighborhood was here until they took that hill out," Veteto said. Veteto said she saw the development coming when Smith's company started excavating and moving gravel out in 1997, but only learned of the bus barn recently — and only through word-of-mouth.

Brad Hertz, First Student's general manager for Alaskan operations, said he hadn't heard a peep from the Valley about his company's site selection. He also said the company was counting on Smith to work with the state and local governments to lessen the traffic impact of the bus fleet.

"That is a local issue," Hertz said. "He's the man on the ground, he's the developer and he's going to handle those local issues. What we're looking for is a turn-key facility so that we can transport the kids."

As for noise, light, and air pollution, both Hertz and Smith said the bus operation is designed to mitigate those concerns. According to Hertz, all of the buses are new and will use external heaters during warm-up to reduce idling time to nearly zero. The lot will also have plug-ins for conventional head bolt heaters, fencing, lights for security, and will be landscaped next year.

Veteto has a few more suggestions, including snow fences along Hyer Spur and Hartley Road, lighting that won't disturb neighbors, pavement on Hyer Spur to reduce dust, a traffic-control light at the intersection of Hyer Spur and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, and air quality monitoring on-site.

Smith said the borough is planning to pave Hyer Spur and that his company will prepare the road for pavement at his expense. Smith also said air quality monitoring probably wouldn't be necessary given what he has learned about First Student's buses and operating plans, and First Student would choose its own type of fencing. Smith said private developers can't push the Alaska Department of Transportation into action, but when his traffic analysis is complete, a stop light at Hyer Spur might show up that much quicker.

It bothered Smith that concerned residents hadn't called his office. He said if residents had met with First Student managers as he had, they wouldn't be so afraid of the bus fleet. Smith said he is counting on First Student to be a good neighbor.

"I have faith in [First Student] and I think they're gonna be an asset," he said. "If everyone felt the way [the neighbors] do, I wouldn't get any tenants on my business park."

Mat-Su Borough School District spokesperson Kim Floyd and superintendent of schools Pat Chesbro were both out of town and could not be reached for comment.