Commission reviews draft of zoning plan

PALMER - Sixteen months after a committee began work on a zoning plan for the most populous region of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, its efforts have taken shape and have been presented to the borough planning commission as a draft document.

But the real work is only beginning.

The planning commission met in a special work session Thursday night with several members of the committee that wrote the Special Land Use Rules of the Core Area draft document. For commission members, it was the first opportunity to discuss the plan in an official capacity.

For committee members, it was an opportunity to give additional background to a plan that if eventually passed would introduce zoning into the core area, the rapidly growing area between Wasilla and Palmer.

For nearly three hours, committee and planning commission members bantered back and forth, discussing issues of concern, searching for elaboration or clarification on a variety of issues.

Planning chief Sandra Garley outlined a number of her concerns about the plan, which she called a starting point for consideration during any work session(s) on these draft regulations, in a memo to session participants.

One item she highlighted was the use of site plans in construction and expansion of agricultural and residential facilities.

This actually proved to be one of the evenings hotter topics as participants discussed the importance of surveying parcels before construction and, ultimately, whose responsibility it was.

Requiring a site plan beforehand would decrease the number of problems with which the planning commission would have to deal, one person said.

Im not crazy about requiring site plans and added costs, said planning commissioner Tim Anderson. He suggested having prospective builders bring in rough plans about where they plan to build on their property, easing site plan restrictions a little bit.

Commissioner Dick Stoffel favored more public education about the importance of surveying.

Id like to leave as much responsibility in the public realm as possible, he said. Public information is better than additional government involvement.

Other points, such as the need for traffic impact analyses, parking requirements and sign regulations, were also discussed, but the intent of the evening was not really to make any major decisions not just yet.

Thursdays meeting is just the first of what the planning department anticipates will be many work sessions, in addition to 20 or more other public meetings and open houses throughout the core area.

The core area plan is only a rough draft, committee member Michelle Church cautioned, and will continue to evolve as it works its way through the process. The plan put before the planning commission may be a very different one by the time the public has had its input, she said.

Another work session is scheduled for 6 p.m., Feb. 28 in the assembly chambers of the borough building at 350 Dahlia Ave., Palmer.

Copies of the draft document may be obtained by calling 745-9833.