State boundary commission coming to Palmer

PALMER -- The city of Palmer's largest annexation effort ever will be scrutinized by the state of Alaska Local Boundary Commission in a hearing Monday night at city hall. The city submitted its plan to annex about 920 acres last April after working over the last two years with consultants to study an annexation strategy.

In the past, some city council members have talked about extending city limits as far west as Trunk Road or Hyer Road and north to Farm Loop. This annexation petition isn't that ambitious, but when compared to Palmer's annexation history it can be described as comprehensive. The city estimates that the annexation, if successful, will bring in 325 new residents.

Since incorporation in 1951, Palmer's boundaries have been expanded 44 times. Forty-one of the annexations occurred since 1970. In the past, the city's policy was to annex only when property owners requested annexation -- a practice now in place in Wasilla -- and for the most part, those annexations moved forward because the property owners involved wanted to hook up to city water.

In recent years the Local Boundary Commission has soured on such piecemeal annexations because they sometimes create enclaves. In 1992, the LBC denied a petition by Palmer to annex a 35-acre commercial tract since it would have created another enclave. Palmer's current annexation petition takes in 13 new areas, five of which are enclaves. The enclaves make up about 110 acres.

Most of the enclaves are made up of either undeveloped property or residential lots with well water that suits their owners fine. Some fear that the annexation could bring higher property taxes and restrictions on land use. 72-year-old Clarence Furbush might be a case in point. Furbush points out that previous annexations have had the effect of surrounding his land.

"People asked for [the previous annexations]. We've fought off these plans for years because nobody wants to be in the city. It's nothing I've asked for, they're just reaching out around us," Furbush said.

Furbush moved here in 1968 with his wife and seven children, all of whom grew up here.

"Along the way we became Alaskans. By that I mean that we have boats and snowmachines, trailers, a backhoe -- it goes on. Now what am I going to do with all of that when I get into the city?" Furbush said.

Furbush is concerned that the city might try to force him to get rid of his personal property. He also believes city zoning will diminish the value of his land.

His lot -- which is just larger than one acre -- is at the intersection of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and South Felton Street. It's a natural spot for commercial development, Furbush said, and he wants his family to have that option.

"They can restrict me by changing the land designation. Right now my property is un-restricted," he said.

Palmer's plan would bring all of the properties in the annexation area into the city under the zoning designation "R-1" or single-family residential. But that initial designation will be under review by the city during the first six months after annexation. The city planning commission will be charged with reviewing and proposing changes to zoning in all of the new areas, according to city manager Tom Healy.

"We have a process for that. He can send a letter to the city requesting that it immediately be zoned for commercial use," Healy said. "Now if somebody wants something zoned industrial and it's in the middle of a subdivision full of houses that probably won't get approved. But in that case, because it's right on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, there is some logic for that to be zoned commercial -- the point is that we have a process [for zoning issues]," Healy said.

Besides the LBC, the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the legislature are involved in the annexation process. DCED staff is charged with reviewing boundary changes and advising the LBC. The legislature has the final say on boundary changes.

DCED doesn't always approve of such plans outright. A recent annexation by the city of Homer targeted more than 20 square miles. DCED staff recommended the LBC amend the plan, and it was reduced to less than five square miles before being passed.

"It was reduced over 80 percent by amendment to the petition," said DCED local government specialist Gene Kane. "The department advised the LBC that the entire area would not meet the standards, but a smaller area would."

Kane said the Palmer annexation petition was "a much more modest proposal" than the initial Homer plan.

The Local Boundary Commission hearings will convene in the city council chamber at city hall on Monday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. After the hearings, the commission will enter into a decisional meeting -- also open to the public -- in which it will decide whether or not to pass the plan on to the legislature. The commission could approve or deny the request that night, but sometimes additional decisional meetings are scheduled for a later date.

The annexation won't be made official unless it is approved by the state legislature. The LBC ordinarily offers a package of boundary changes, incorporations and other actions to the legislature each year.