Palmer looks at parking

May 19, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

PALMER - Imagine the frustration of driving into town to run a quick errand only to find all the parking spaces taken. Does that sound like Palmer? No? Sometimes? Not yet?

It depends on whom you ask.

&#8220We're short parking spaces. Definitely,” Mayor John Combs said. &#8220I've been on the south end of Valley Way and couldn't find a parking spot on either side of the street.”

Council member Tony Pippel disagreed.

&#8220We don't have a parking problem. We have an ordinance that says we have a parking problem,” Pippel said. &#8220We're not as packed as New York City.”

During a special meeting at City Hall Tuesday, members of the Palmer City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the reasoning behind a more flexible parking ordinance, whether land tied up for parking spaces would hinder development, and how to provide public parking spaces on limited land.

The proposed central business district that would adhere to a parking code includes the area between South Gulkana Street on the east, businesses bordering South Dimond Street and the Glenn Highway on the west, buildings on East Fireweed Avenue and West Geranium Avenue on the south, and Cottonwood Avenue on the north.

There isn't much land available in the core of Palmer, not for a big public parking lot, so it's most likely the city would start acquiring small parcels, City Manager Tom Healy said.

At this point, a parking garage is not under consideration, he said. Construction of such a structure would be too expensive and would face a 50-foot height limit, according to Healy.

One of the short-range actions proposed by community development coordinator Sara Jansen would designate the Palmer Depot parking lot as an area that could count toward required parking spaces for businesses within 400 feet of the depot. Already, many residents frequenting downtown Palmer park there, she said.

&#8220The key to making public parking work is for the city to be committed to parking spaces in the core area,” she said.

Pippel suggested the city reduce the parking-space requirements to encourage development, create a fee-in-lieu for spaces around the central business district and look at the cost of constructing a public parking lot as a bond issue, or place a .25 mil tax rate on business owners.

He also suggested hiring a consultant.

&#8220I agree with Pippel, except for the bond issue and the mil rate. It would be an unfair burden to an already-taxed public,” Planning and Zoning Commissioner Mike Madan said. &#8220Even on Colony Days, I've only had to walk four or five blocks. I've never had a problem parking in Palmer.”

Madan called for a more standardized set of requirements in the revised ordinance.

&#8220If you relax standards for restaurants in the business district, why not do it everywhere else?” he said. &#8220When new buildings are constructed, don't lower the requirements because then we will have a parking problem down the road.”

Healy said rewriting the parking ordinance, Title 17, was sparked by a need to preserve older buildings in downtown Palmer with increased customers and few parking spaces to accommodate them. The proposed revisions would reduce the number of required parking spaces, and would allow entrepreneurs to waive the number of spaces by paying into a city fund to construct public parking spaces. The more lax parking-space requirements and fee-in-lieu option also would allow redevelopment of land so owners would &#8220not have to tear down a building to build a parking lot,” Healy said.

Another solution is shared parking, but that option ties up land.

For example, St. John Lutheran Church, which is located on East Elmwood Avenue, expanded its building and needed more parking spaces. It entered into a shared parking agreement with the Mat-Su Borough. On Sunday, church-goers use the borough parking lot.

But, the church is required to set aside the same amount of land for the parking spaces it uses, just in case the current one becomes unavailable, he said.

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Guy Allee suggested that, if the parking needs continue to grow, the city could provide public parking outside the core area and use a bus to bring people to and from the business district, thus preserving the compact, walkable downtown concept.

According to city code, changes to Title 17, which deals with land use, must go before the city's planning and zoning commission.

During its regular meeting Thursday night, the commission was scheduled to discuss how to approach issues surrounding parking-space requirements.

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252, or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.