Palmer needs a vision of what it wants to look like and become

Spectrum/Rev. Howard Bess

With the planned coming of Wal-Mart to Palmer, the time is ripe to ask important questions about the Palmer of tomorrow.

The collective voice of Palmer has said very clearly, "not like Wasilla." That point is well taken. Wasilla has its unique history and Palmer has its own. However, when a critic says what they do not want, there is an implied obligation to say just what is wanted. Palmer needs a vision of what it wants to look like and be in the future.

When I heard that Wal-Mart was coming to Palmer, I was glad that the proposed site had been recently annexed to Palmer. Further, I was glad that the Palmer City Council had done a part of its job and adopted a "big-box" ordinance. The ordinance, if administered correctly, should guarantee that Wal-Mart in Palmer will not look like Wal-Mart in Wasilla.

When Fred Meyer came to Palmer, the Palmer city fathers worked with Fred Meyer managers. The Fred Meyer people were cooperative and gave Palmer a building that looks much better than Fred Meyer in Wasilla. While traffic patterns around Fred Meyer are less than ideal, an honest effort was made by everyone.

The message that Palmer is receiving is quite clear. Palmer is a desirable location for business expansion. The city of Palmer will be dealing with additional business expansions in the very near future.

The city of Palmer recently engaged professors and graduate students from the University of Washington in a planning exercise. Public meetings were well attended, and the Frontiersman did a credible job of reporting the results of the study.

For those of us who are Palmer advocates and watchers, there was not much of anything that was new. Our University of Washington friends told us what we already knew.

Palmer's best future is the cultivation of the community as a destination, not a satellite of Anchorage or Wasilla.

The colonist and homesteader traditions of the Palmer area are unique and will be of longtime interest for those who live in Palmer and those who will be motivated to visit Palmer.

Palmer must quickly expand its city limits as soon as possible in order to control its interests and environment.

Palmer must aggressively expand its utility service capacity to serve the growth that quickly will occur in the newly expanded city limits.

Palmer must take appropriate actions to preserve agricultural land in the area. This is urgent because of the greedy Anchorage developers who are already gobbling up agricultural land.

The population of the core of Palmer should be densified.

I do not know what instructions were given the study group, and I am not privy to the expectations of the city. Frankly, I was disappointed. If people were expecting a vision of what Palmer could and should become, the exercise fell short.

So where do we get a vision of Palmer, and what are the elements of that vision? Certainly the history of the area is of prime importance and should be focused on a well-planned museum. The architecture style that was brought by the colonists should be promoted. The arts and crafts typical of the Palmer culture should be honored and reflected in public buildings. (Palmer should be the quilting capital of Alaska!)

Palmer is the present seat of government and governmental services for the area. The borough has run out of space. The school district administration is in temporary quarters. The Palmer city hall is completely inadequate. A new fire station is a must as the fire department's responsibilities are expanded. The library needs expansion. The Alaska State Troopers and the Palmer Police Department need additional space. The court system is bursting at its seams. And how about a performing arts center worthy of Palmer?

The development of all of these things needs to be coordinated. Who is setting a vision of a plan for Palmer?

The population growth of the Palmer area is a fact of life. Palmer is in desperate need of leadership that has the capacity to envision a fully developed Palmer. That leadership will not come from a city manager or from a planning director. A vision of Palmer must come from our elected mayor and city council. There is no one else to assume the role of visionary.

An oft-quoted Bible passage says, "Without a vision, the people perish." For Palmer a better translation would be "Without a vision, you end up looking like Wasilla."

The Rev. Howard Bess is pastor of the Church of the Covenant in Palmer.