New housing regulations eyed

April 16, 2006

By DARRELL L. BREESE

Frontiersman

PALMER - Rapid growth and the accompanying development push has transformed the Mat-Su Valley and brought more than just a surge in the construction of single-family homes.

Along with it, many developers have moved into outlying residential neighborhoods and are constructing condominiums and apartment buildings.

The push has not proceeded without complaints, many from people who live in neighborhoods near the new multi-family buildings who say developers are squeezing projects onto too-small lots.

Mat-Su Borough officials are taking action to regulate such development, and the borough planning commission is accepting public input through April 29 on a draft version of proposed multi-family dwelling design standards.

The borough assembly and the planning commission discussed the topic Tuesday during a special joint meeting, and the planning commission is set to recommend a final version of the plan May 1.

According to borough planning chief Sev Jones, &#8220The overall goal of the regulations is to improve the quality of multi-family development, and to ensure the compatibility of such development with surrounding land uses.”

In addition to establishing design and construction standards, the plan would include incentives to encourage superior development of multi-family dwellings.

The plan addresses issues related to multi-family development, such as water quality, traffic, design standards and other concerns.

&#8220We're taking a proactive approach to address concerns that come along with an increase in multi-family development,” Jones said.

&#8220The assembly requested the development of the regulations about a year ago to address the concerns before they become a problem.”

&#8220Anchorage had a problem with site condos a couple of years ago and we're trying to prevent repeating their mistakes,” Borough Manager John Duffy said.

The proposed design standards call for developers with three or more dwelling units or multiple-dwelling structures to meet requirements related to density, landscaping and drainage, emergency-vehicle access, elevation, parking and certified site plans.

&#8220We're not trying to limit development of multi-family housing,” Duffy said. &#8220We want to simply make sure that the planned development is what is right for the surrounding community, and will not have any negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood.”

In addition to new construction, the design standards would apply to planned additions to existing multi-family development of more than 300 square feet.

The incentives would provide developers who go beyond the minimum standard design requirements the ability to make adjustments to certain areas of the project, such as increased height or a reduced setback area.

&#8220This approach encourages and creates unique design features and community amenities,” Jones explained. &#8220The incentives allow for a certain amount of flexibility, and encourages construction above the current standards. The Incentive points allow developers to construct innovative and unique multi-family residential areas.”

The complete draft version of the proposal is available for public review on the borough's Web site at www.matsugov.us/Planning.

Click on the planning division link, and then on the link for reviewing public documents.

If approved by the planning commission on May 1, the standards would go to the assembly for final approval.

To date, the plan has met with little objection from local developers, Jones said.

&#8220There were some who had a lot of questions initially,” he said.

&#8220I sat down with several of them and went over the proposed standards. They were at ease after that. I'm sure someone will object, but the comments received so far have been supportive of the proposal.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.