Palmer set to plot course for future

October 28, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - The days of a small-town Palmer with sleepy economic growth and an unchanging agricultural landscape are long gone.

The historic Colony-era community is now a growing economic center with commercial and residential developments quickly taking the place of family farms and rolling hayfields.

On Saturday, Palmer residents will gather in the Palmer Depot to help define the direction and shape of their city in coming years.

The meeting is a culmination of nearly two years of research and brainstorming sessions with developers, city planners and members of the community. The goal is to explicitly lay out what Palmer residents value about their city and what they hope to see in the future.

While many small towns end up losing their historic character to the influx of so-called box stores, strip malls and massive subdivisions, Palmer is attempting to balance those realities with a vision to conserve its charm - before it's gone.

In September 2004, Palmer began working with students and faculty from the University of Washington Urban Planning College to create a comprehensive plan for the city's growth.

The document contains detailed plans to expand Palmer's commercial activities, market the city to tourism and visitors, create new roads, improve downtown parking and recreation facilities, and preserve the traditional flavor of the downtown area through landscape design and preservation of historic buildings and landmarks. It also includes plans for future annexation, transportation, public services and infrastructure improvements, such as expanding the city's water and sewer systems.

Six months ago, a 13-member planning team began developing a draft of the comprehensive plan.

&#8220Saturday will be an opportunity for people to review the plan to make sure we are on the right track and in line with the community's goals,” said Palmer Community Devel-opment Coordinator Sara Jansen. &#8220This is really the time to have the most impact on the plan.”

After the public meeting, the planning team will make final revisions before forwarding the draft to the Palmer Planning and Zoning Commission sometime in November. From there, it's on to the City Council and then the Mat-Su Borough Assembly for final approval.

Slides, photographs and maps will be on hand Saturday to give people a better idea of what the draft entails before they break into discussion groups to provide more detailed feedback.

&#8220The feedback will go back to the planning team and we will try to incorporate those into the plan,” Jansen said. &#8220Hopefully we just need to tweak it a little here and there.”

People may view the draft before the Saturday meeting. Copies are available at Palmer City Hall or on the city's Web site at www.cityofpalmer.org.

For more information, contact Jansen by calling

761-1315.

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.