Coming together for a planning solution

WASILLA -- An unusual group of people met last week with a large goal in mind, and it's likely more will be heard from the group at the borough level before long.

What makes the group unusual is the often-warring philosophies represented by group members. The group presently consists of Eddie Grasser, legislative aide to Rep. Beverly Masek, R-Willow; Mary Psenak of Mat-Su Property Owners; Mae Tischer, former planning commissioner and present Matanuska Electric Association board member; Tony Pippel, Palmer City Council member and member of, in addition to other groups, Parks, Arts Recreation, Culture and Sports (PARCS); and Howard Bess, a Valley minister and member of several groups, including PARCS.

Grasser and Bess are presently taking the lead in the group, which met for the first time last week and is presently working on coming up with a list of names of people that should be included to make the group balanced and focused toward the same goal -- that of a community-driven responsive planning effort that satisfies the needs and desires of Mat-Su residents.

"We need a group, not only of a certain size," Bess said. "We need to make sure a broad range of interests and commitments are represented by the group. If we don't get that, the group won't work."

And the goal?

"Our main goal is to try to find a solution for the community that's a win-win proposition," Grasser said.

Grasser and Bess agreed that letting government dictate a solution for managing growth, brings about a result that can be disagreeable.

"Zoning is a negative concept. It says what you cannot do," Bess said. "It needs to be counterbalanced by a plan, a vision that gives you a picture of what you really want."

Many communities that adopted zoning previously, Bess said, are rethinking their plans. Suburbia, he said, often results in a wide and inconvenient separation between residential areas and things like neighborhood grocery stores.

"It commits us to the automobile in a way that cannot go on," Bess said. "There's no way to build roads wide enough."

What Bess said he is seeking is ultimately a new way of thinking about development altogether -- a way of thinking that keeps the vision of the future in mind while making decisions in the present.

"On a much smaller scale, that's what PARCS has tried to do in Palmer," Bess said. "We have effectively re-imaged the railroad right of way, and it affects everyone. That's the idea, is to re-image the Valley so that we know what we want."

The outcome may be a mixture of planning and zoning, Grasser said, because planning is as essential, if not more so. What the group is trying to find is a consensus -- a solution that has not been readily available, and that is a creative way to deal with the Valley's unique needs.

"We're not there to decide if zoning is a good thing or a bad thing. Zoning might be part of the solution -- who knows?" Grasser said. "I just think there's a solution out there that's not so divisive."

After coming up with a group of people that can offer good input on the plan, the next step will be to look for a facilitator who can help the group reach consensus without letting philosophical differences get the group off-track, as Grasser said happened numerous times in the first meeting.

"I had to jump into the fray on a few occasions and redirect," Grasser said.

Of course, that facilitator will come at a cost, and that's something for help with which Bess said the group will likely be turning to the community.

"People's interest and ownership in something follows their money," Bess said. He's estimating it will take about $50,000 to see the group through its effort.

Grasser said he plans to have an outline of the group's plan to the borough for informational purposes by the end of December. In fact, by the end of this month, the group hopes to have a more concrete proposal.

He said he's spoken with borough planning director Sandra Garley about the project but Grasser said the group doesn't plan to ask for much input from the borough throughout the process.

"The group decided from the very onset to run this as a private-sector [project] for the time being," Grasser said. "It's a community solution, not a governmental solution."

For more information about the effort, people may contact Grasser at 745-3772 or Bess at 746-1089.