Jim Creek plan embraces ATVs

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough has decided what it wants to do with its land in the Jim Creek area — develop it into an ATV park.

The trails will be multi-use but, according to the Jim Creek Motorized Master Plan the Mat-Su Borough Assembly adopted Feb. 5, the main focus seems to be providing a place for folks of all skill levels to ride their ATVs.

“The primary area should be developed for motorized recreation off-road vehicles, including local off-road vehicle training and learning area as well as a regional access point to Knik River and Knik Glacier,” according to the plan.

There is provision in the plan for one “safe multi-use reduced speed or non-motorized trail through the area.”

The borough’s parcel, 471 acres in size, is on Sullivan Road. It includes the main parking lot people use to access Jim Creek. The process to write the plan that was adopted Feb. 5 started as an effort to build bathrooms there. The word “motorized” was previously added to the title of the document by the assembly.

The new plan includes those bathrooms, but also multiple trails crisscrossing the site as well as RV facilities and camping. An adjoining parcel would be for private industry to provide concessions or rent equipment.

At that meeting, most people who spoke did so in favor of the motorized plan.

“I think it’s something that can be a real stellar project for the Mat-Su Borough, it can bring a lot of economic development to the area,” said Craig Saunders, representing the Alaska Outdoor Access Alliance.

But there were detractors. Robert Howard, chair of the Knik River Watershed Group, said that he believed the process was biased in favor of the motorized groups and chipped away at trails that were historically reserved for non-motorized use.

Some worried about liability and others about the cost of having a caretaker on site collecting fees. Patricia Rosnel said planning for the Butte should be left to the residents of the Butte.

But by the time it was the assembly’s turn to discuss it amongst its members, the first one to speak said its passage was assured.

“This master plan is going to pass,” Assemblyman Warren Keogh said. “There hasn’t been any doubt that it would pass.”

He said he also wanted to change a few things. First, he wanted to make sure that gunfire was banned from the parcel.

“It’s by no means any restriction on carrying firearms, but this is by no means an area where firearms should be discharged,” he said.

Assemblyman Steve Colligan agreed.

“I will speak in favor of that oddly enough, mainly because I think we need to move forward with a couple of dedicated gun ranges,” Colligan said.

Gun ranges are in the state’s plans for nearby public use areas. Gov. Sean Parnell earmarked $200,000 to build one in his budget this year. The governor’s budget is what the Legislature tends to use as a first draft.

So that gunfire change passed. But Keogh’s other tweak, to add language banning drinking in the area, failed.

“If people are going to be out there camping it’s not applicable.” Colligan said.

Assemblyman Darcie Salmon said, “I’d like to ask who assembly member Keogh presumes is going to enforce that.”

The booze ban failed 6-1.

Finally, Keogh proposed calling the master plan just a plan for the area rather than a “motorized master plan.”

Inserting that one word had touched off some pretty serious debate at previous meetings.

“We’ve voted on that once,” borough mayor Larry DeVilbiss said before Keogh corrected him.

“We voted on it twice,” Keogh said, before adding that while motorized seemed to be the emphasis in the plan, there were other uses envisioned for the area and to call it a motorized plan “is inaccurate.”

That change also failed, but the master plan was adopted without a single vote against it.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.