Palmer zoning commission

OKs new rules

By SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN-Frontiersman reporter

The city of Palmer Planning and Zoning Commission approved drafts of two ordinances Thursday -- one aimed at creating a new zoning category for high-density residential development and the other a new site-planning regulation aimed at controlling traffic.

The ordinances will go before the city council next, with public hearings sometime early next month. They are part of a package of new ordinances the council has planned.

The new zoning category is nearly identical to the current R-2 category-- a medium-density residential category.

The ordinance adds an R-3 category, and the council plans to make the R-2 category more restrictive in a future action.

The attention to zoning comes after residents complained about new apartment buildings developed last year with as many as two-dozen units in a town that hasn't seen such aggressive development in years.

The commission's chairman, Jim Rogers, said the zoning changes would provide a necessary tool to accommodate both developers and keep the traditional housing patterns of existing neighborhoods.

"When there is an outcry, I think that outcry itself is a reason to take a serious look at our zoning," Rogers said.

It's still early in the zoning revamp process, but Planning Commissioner Detlef Wanke expressed concerns that the commissioners weren't kept informed about the council's strategy for zoning changes.

Wanke said he was only able to keep up to speed by going to city hall and reading the council meeting minutes.

"I think the council is being very discourteous -- to read about something of this magnitude only in their minutes tells me that the city council wants to take over planning and zoning," Wanke said. " … maybe we should turn in our resignations."

Wanke also said the new zoning plan doesn't follow the Palmer's comprehensive plan.

"The comprehensive plan recommends higher density housing development as opposed to lower density," he said.

At the same meeting, as the commissioners reviewed the site-planning ordinance, they recommended removing a section that required developers to perform traffic-impact analysis for developments that were expect to increase traffic.

Rogers and Commissioner Michael Kircher spoke against the traffic studies.

"As I understand it, we don't have any base-line data as to traffic, so I don't want to put any onerous responsibilities on the developers," Kircher said.

Commissioner Richard Dossett disagreed and said that he thought traffic studies would be helpful, particularly for residential developments.

"Isn't it reasonable that you can predict traffic impact, given that you know the exact size of the development and the family composition of the development?" Dossett said. "I don't think [the proposal] is onerous in any way."

The site plan requirements will be new for Palmer. They include a section that addresses driveways, which was approved by the commission with only minor tinkering.

The section includes a number of requirements for new driveways, including public works approval, a minimum of 25 feet between the driveway and the nearest intersection and a limit of one driveway for properties with less than 100 feet of street frontage.

The site plan ordinance initially included an exemption for construction in residential zones, but the commission wants that scrapped.

"We need to look at [residential] development as it exists in today's world and that is as a commercial development," Rogers said. "To exempt R-1 is not in the best interests of the city."

During the meeting, Commissioner Jerry Baker expressed frustration with the ordinances and said she hoped the new zoning rules could be written in easy-to-understand language.

"First we have to understand [the codes]," Baker said, "because these laws and ordinances are for the people. Not for lawyers, not for judges, but for the people who have to abide by them."

Baker also suggested the city publish a manual for property owners and developers that serves as a guide to building regulations and zoning in Palmer

Palmer's code enforcement officer David Meneses said after the meeting that the code relies on legal jargon because it might have to be defended in court one day.

"Once you understand the concepts, the language is clear," Meneses said. "The legalize has to stay."

Meneses said Palmer's zoning codes are available through the Internet and at city hall.

Inquiries are handled by staff members face-to-face and on a case-by-case basis.