Talkeetna talks SPUD

TALKEETNA -- It's a plan whose time has come, community members say -- a plan they hope will keep the community growing, but guide that growth away from strip malls and toward development in keeping with the town's historic atmosphere.

The Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission held its regular meeting in Talkeetna Monday to give Talkeetna residents the opportunity to voice their comments about the proposed Talkeetna Special Land Use District.

Community members have been working steadily to find consensus on the issue since they were awarded an $85,000 grant from the National Parks Service in 2000 to develop the community and tourism plan. They hired Christopher Beck of Christopher Beck and Associates in Anchorage to help them develop the plan.

Beck and his consulting team have worked with the community for more than a year, helping identify the core essentials of the community and how the plan could keep those essentials while meeting the demands of a growing area.

According to information included in the final community plan, the project got its start with more than 30 in-depth interviews, followed by a series of workshops held last April at which more than 100 people attended three nights of meetings. Since that time, numerous other meetings were held to iron out details of what should be included in the plan. Meetings with agencies involved in the plan, such as the Mat-Su Borough, the Department of Transportation and other agencies, were held and suggestions were incorporated into the final plan.

The end result of the meetings -- the SPUD -- was forwarded to the appropriations committee that helped craft it, to the community council for comments, and to the Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce. Borough staff also took the opportunity to review the document and, at Monday's meeting, brought it forward with a list of proposed changes.

Although few people who gathered in the Talkeetna Elementary School gymnasium Monday night felt it was a perfect document, most saw the need for regulation of growth in the community. But three of the more than 30 speakers said they wanted nothing to do with the plan, and encouraged the commission to go home and drop the plan altogether.

"Smuck the nose of this beast, the proverbial camel with his nose under the tent," said R.G. Denny, who sported a custom-made "Snuff the SPUD" button when he spoke to the commission. "This is no solution to a downtown Talkeetna full of people with kit and caboodle in tow."

Denny told the commission he didn't feel the ordinance did what it intended to -- that is, to limit the effect of development and tourism on the community -- by restricting the rights of private property owners.

But other meeting attendees disagreed with Denny's comments -- both his assertion that the plan was compiled by a self-appointed committee and that the plan had received little public comment.

Ruth Wood, vice-chair of the Talkeetna Community Council, said the council was instrumental in appointing members to the appropriations committee -- the body that was involved with the SPUD process from early on. Although she acknowledged that those involved in the community council were also the ones serving on the appropriations committee, she said the committee, along with planning consultant Beck, were careful to include public meetings and opportunities for public comment numerous times throughout the 10 months of work on the Talkeetna Community/Tourism Plan.

"The things that we're proposing are generally what's here now," Wood said. "It's not trying to restrict development, it's trying to keep development in the character of what we have now."

Although several concerns about specific portions of the plan -- whether a height restriction on towers may limit local radio station KTNA's future expansion efforts, for example -- were brought up through the comments, community members spoke time and again of the need to put the plan into effect.

"I urge you to pass it and help us get on our way here in the community," George Wagner told the commission. "It's time -- it's well past time."

Planning commission members commended the community on the work they had done to come up with a plan that was so broadly supported. Planning Commissioner Rose Jenne, who hails from Talkeetna, made a motion to table the resolution and scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. to consider the changes suggested by community members, as well as those included in the staff report.

Vice-chair Lee Sharp told community members at the meeting he was in favor of holding at least one more public hearing on the SPUD after the changes were incorporated. After any additional changes are incorporated, he said, the matter would likely be forwarded to the assembly for approval. Sharp said while he wanted to see a good plan adopted, he, too, felt it needed to be done on an expedited basis.

"We need to do it right, but we need to do it as quickly as possible," Sharp said.