Palmer moves forward on T-zone

PALMER -- The Palmer City Council said during their regular meeting Tuesday that they'd like to consider the T-zone ordinance as is, despite the fact that it may receive future changes.

The proposed T-zone would provide a category for land that is still in development or is underdeveloped and thus doesn't fall into one of the city's traditional zoning schemes. The ordinance instituting the new zone, which has been under consideration for quite some time, always creates disagreement when discussed by the council and commission.

"There's some disagreement between the council and Palmer Planning and Zoning Commission on whether we need a T-zone, there's some disagreement on this specific ordinance, and there's some disagreement on its timing," said Deputy Mayor Tony Pippel, sitting in for Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper.

Pippel suggested giving Palmer City Manager Tom Healy a month to revise the T-zone, but other council members suggested a more timely resolution.

Council Member John Combs said he would push for speed in getting the T-zone on the books.

"This needs to get done and it needs to get done now," Combs said. "We need to have something on the books for the next annexation session."

Combs added that the argument with Planning and Zoning wasn't helping to get the T-zone passed in a timely fashion.

"We haven't reached a total consensus with Planning and Zoning on this; I don't think we ever will," Combs said. "But we need to get this on the books."

Pippel said a quicker solution would probably be more desirable.

"I would like to see a T-zone passed in as timely a manner as possible," he said.

Much of the disagreement between the council and the commission pivots on some of the wording of the proposed ordinance that would institute it. The ordinance includes stipulations that state that the portion of the land being used cannot be increased by more than 50 percent without approval or rezoning, and it requires certain buffers and setbacks be imposed upon new buildings in a T-zone, landscaping requirements, and annexation regulations.

At a special work session between the council and the commission on June 3, Planning and Zoning commissioners said they supported the concept of the ordinance, but not necessarily its wording or timing. Since Palmer is in the middle of an annexation process, adding a T-zone immediately could throw off the whole process, they said.

Council Member Kathrine Vanover said she didn't approve of the ordinance as it reads.

"As it currently stands, I can't vote for it," she said.

Combs said it wasn't necessary to pass an ordinance that was perfect the first time around. He said it was the intent of the council to amend the ordinance both before and after passing it.

"The intent of the council is to make it complete once we get it on the books," Combs said.

Combs admitted that the T-zone proposal has some difficulties, but also noted that it has been on the agenda of both the council and the commission for a very long time, and that he would like to see it finally resolved.

"We've been hammering on this for, I don't know, two years, and we've got to get it done," he said.

One of the primary arguments for the passing of the ordinance is that the city's practice of habitually zoning undeveloped annexed land as R-1, single family residential, creates an unfair situation for surrounding homeowners, who expect certain limitations and requirements from land zoned R-1. A T-zone would allow Palmer to annex land without taking on the implications that an R-1 zone creates.

After their June 3 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended in writing that the proposal not be adopted as it currently reads.

The council can pass the ordinance if they choose, despite the objections of the commission. However, if the council makes major changes to the ordinance, it must go back to the commission for approval, according to Palmer City Clerk Janette Persinger. What constitutes major changes seems more a matter of common sense than anything, she said.

"If we start looking at it and saying, 'this thing doesn't look anything like it used to look like,' then we've made some major changes," Healy said.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.