Majority of landowners want additional zoning, regulations

PALMER -- More than 57 percent of core area landowners surveyed in relation to the Mat-Su Borough Core Area Comprehensive Plan update agreed or strongly agreed that additional land use regulations such as zoning, agricultural and landscaping regulations should be developed and enforced.

To those who've been watching the process, the results reflect what people have been saying all along.

"It doesn't surprise me; the results were pretty consistent with what I expected," Assembly member Talis Colberg said Friday.

The Mat-Su Borough, in May, had 1,037 surveys mailed out to randomly selected homeowners in the Mat-Su Borough.

The surveys returned by the May 30 deadline were reviewed by staff from Peter J. Smith & Company, Inc., a New York-based consulting company the borough contracted with to conduct the Core Area Comprehensive Plan update.

According to staff from Smith & Company, 261 surveys were returned by the deadline, with a return rate of 25 percent. Although some borough officials at a recent meeting expressed concern with the low return rate, Smith & Company staff said the number returned exceeded what was needed to determine a statistically correct sampling.

"For a random survey to be considered statistically significant, a response rate of only 15 to 20 percent is required," staff wrote in the draft document detailing the survey results. "The response rate for this survey exceeds that necessary for the survey to be statistically significant."

According to the results from the survey, most core area residents live in homes made up of between two and five people. More than 60 percent of the respondents were between the ages of 41 and 60, and more than 45 percent had lived in the core area more than 16 years, and an additional 31 percent had lived in the area between six and 15 years.

When asked to choose from four choices a vision for the core area, nearly half the respondents said they'd like to see development, "through the use of appropriate , as an area of mixed-use development that includes a town center."

The second-most popular answer was for the area to "continue to develop as we are now with few limitations or restrictions," a choice selected by more than 20 percent of respondents. The remaining responses were divided between having the core area be primarily a place for large-lot residential growth (nearly 15 percent) and no additional residential growth (about 7 percent).

Survey respondents were split in their opinions on community design. Although more than 50 percent of respondents either strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement that land use regulations should be used to develop a town center, identify the community and create a sense of place, more than 33 percent either strongly disagreed or disagreed that land use regulations should be so used. A greater percentage -- more than 60 percent -- agreed that land use regulations should focus on enhancing the community's character, but again nearly 28 percent disagreed with that use for land use regulations.

Most respondents agreed that the basic services provided by the borough met the needs of area residents, but they were split on whether they received adequate police protection. Nearly 45 percent of respondents agreed that adequate police protection was provided, while more than 33 percent disagreed. Nearly 70 percent of the respondents felt the borough's fire and emergency service was excellent.

In addition to talk recently about the need for additional public safety, people taking part in the plan update have spoken numerous times about the need for the borough to prepare to provide public sewer and water services to dense neighborhoods within the core.

Those who answered the survey said the time for such services has not yet come. More than 50 percent of survey respondents disagreed with the suggestion that the borough should provide public water. Nearly as many disagreed that the borough should provide public sewer services.

Land use has been an area of discussion in which most people seem to hold some pretty strong opinions, at least in the Valley. The survey results bore that out, although with a few unexpected results. It was the section with the fewest "no opinion" responses, and a low number of "no response" answers.

More than 65 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that additional land use regulations should be used to minimize land use conflicts. Nearly 80 percent of the respondents agreed there was a need to maintain open space in the core area, and more than 70 percent wanted to see agricultural lands preserved. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they'd like to see commercial and industrial uses encouraged to locate in certain areas to minimize potential conflicts with residential uses. And more than 57 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that additional land use regulations such as zoning, agricultural or landscaping should be developed and enforced.

Transportation was a significant concern for most respondents. Nearly 75 percent wanted to see an expanded network of roads connecting those that currently exist in the Valley, and more than 80 percent were concerned with the volume of traffic.

Respondents were split over whether adequate money was being spent on road improvements and maintenance, with more than 35 percent of the opinion that funding amounts were adequate, and more than 44 percent in disagreement.

More than half the respondents saw a need for commuter rail, but nearly 30 percent of respondents had no opinion when asked if there was a need for public transit services.

When asked about future growth and development, the largest number, about 34 percent of respondents, said they'd like to see the growth rate continue by between two and five percent, or by between 425 and 1,000 people each year. About 25 percent, the next-highest percentage, said they'd like to see less development -- between one and two percent each year, or 200 to 425 new people each year.

Most respondents agreed that tourism should be promoted in order to boost the local economy, and nearly half agreed that an identifiable town center should be created in the core area.

The survey, however, is just a step toward the creation of an updated Core Area Comprehensive Plan.

"I don't see this survey as the plan, I see this as really reconfirming why we got to where we are in terms of doing the comprehensive plan update," Colberg said.