Residents sore over Brittany rezone

PALMER -- Some decisions made by the Palmer Planning and Zoning Commission and the Palmer City Council in mid-June have residents of Brittany Estates, west of Palmer, up in arms.

The June 22 meeting of the Palmer City Council drew more than 40 residents of the subdivision's 102 homes to protest the proposed rezoning of some 18.34 acres of nearby land adjoining the Palmer-Wasilla Highway from R-1, single-family residential, to C-G, general commercial.

The residents were pushing to have the land rezoned C-L, limited commercial, instead.

This turnout was accompanied by a protest petition circulated by residents Mike Madar and Jim Wood to oppose the commercial rezoning.

Madar and Wood knocked on doors all around the area to obtain signatures of residents who wished to see the land rezoned as C-L rather than C-G. All told, they collected a total of 202 signatures, almost all of them from Brittany Estates residents.

However, the council ruled that this protest couldn't be applied to the C-G rezone since the land to be rezonedwasn't within 300 feet of the property owners signing the petition, the minimum required for the city council to consider it a protest. In fact, Wood said, there are only a total of around 14 people living within that radius right now.

Madar's primary concern, he said, was that the rezoned property might be used for establishments such as bars, strip clubs or adult-video stores.

"It all boils down to the fact that any of these businesses under C-G can move in there," said Madar, who still actively speaks out against the decision. "They'll be hard-pressed to prevent anyone from building whatever they want here."

Wood said he, too, favored C-L zoning over C-G zoning.

"We just want to limit the kinds of businesses," he said.

Palmer City Council member Tony Pippel disagreed with the value of such a limitation, saying that the proximity of residential areas to proposed C-G development would serve as a deterrent to such unsavory growth. Though the land in question is adjacent to Brittany Estates, it's not yet subject to the same covenants and agreements that Brittany residents must abide by.

"I think the likelihood of there being any kind of [undesirable] development in that area is near zero," Pippel said. "Can I guarantee that? Well, no. I don't want to say that their fears are groundless, but I think that their fears are somewhat unrealistic."

Rick Besse with Besse Engineering, which is handling the expansion, said there was no word yet on what the recently rezoned C-G land would be used for, but that he was fairly confident that whatever business moved in would be acceptable to nearby residents.

He said the chance of something involving liquor licensing or other similar regulation being allowed to do so was minimal.

"The probability of that happening in a residential neighborhood is less than one-tenth of a percent," he said. "It just will not happen."

Pippel said a C-L zoning wouldn't have made the difference that Brittany residents might have hoped.

"C-L would have made a difference, but it's a difference that would've been primarily noticed by the developer," he said.

The land was rezoned C-G at the June 22 city council meeting. However, a number of conditions were imposed upon the land to mitigate future development.

Among these conditions were a requirement for a 6.5-foot-tall slatted or solid fence along the property's southern side, consolidation of driveways for the fewest possible access points, a 35-foot setback between commercial structures and property lines, light shielding and landscaping improvements. The setback distance was later reduced to 25 feet.

Madar sees these measures as inadequate.

"They're going to mediate the effects of general commercial with a wood-slat fence and a 35-foot setback," he said, before the city council changed the setback requirement to 25 feet. "That's no mediation at all, when you think about it."

However, Pippel believes that the mediation, which is similar to one performed on a commercial rezone decision across the highway, should be more than adequate to ensure the quality of life for residents.

"I thought we did a pretty admirable job and the developer had made some substantial concessions," Pippel said. "It's not like people on that council don't pay attention to public input."

Besse said the same.

"This is pretty much exactly what they wanted," he said of the mediation his firm agreed to.

Pippel said he thought potential commercial development in the area might affect planned housing developments nearby, but shouldn't be of too much trouble to existing homeowners, who, he said, reside about 800 feet from the tract in question.

"I don't think they were treated unfairly, when all is said and done," Pippel said of the Brittany residents.

Madar and Wood, who said they're dissatisfied with the way the city council handles expansion and property management, have gone so far as to apply for their own seats on the council.

Pippel said that in the end, he's glad that people come forth to give comments on the city's workings, even if they don't agree with him.

"I'm glad people are paying attention and taking political action," he said. "The more voices, the better."