Zone issue held

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough Assembly Tuesday officially "parked" the Euclidean core area zoning proposal, opting instead to bring forward an ordinance involving conditional use permits with performance standards.

Assembly member Talis Colberg, when requesting that the motion to introduce both items for public hearing at an Aug. 13 public hearing be split, said he believed people's concerns with potential land use problems around them was better dealt with by performance standards.

"The end result is that [the zoning ordinance] is largely a document that concerns people … but does not limit nuisance-type uses," Colberg said. "It's best to stop the core area zoning ordinance and just proceed with the conditional use permits."

Several assembly members, in an earlier work session about zoning and land uses, said they, too, were not comfortable with the proposed core area zoning ordinance.

Assembly member Sara Jansen said she has long been a proponent of zoning -- and still is -- but said this particular plan was simply too hard to understand and may be more than what the core area needs at this point.

"It's a little bit like going from the ridiculous to the sublime," Jansen said.

Assembly member Dan Kelly said he would be interested in keeping the ordinance on the books so communities can use it as a model and adjust it to their needs if they decide they want zoning in their community.

"Similar to a lake management plan," Kelly explained. "Not all lake management plans are the same, but there's something to start from."

Assembly members at the meeting sought more clarification for Kelly's proposal, noting that it seemed similar to comprehensive plans or special land use districts that are available for community members to change to suit their needs.

Colberg told assembly members at the 3 p.m. zoning work session that he preferred the conditional use permit ordinance because it would address issues that are problematic within communities, while zoning may not. He referred to the asphalt plant that recently opened in the Midtown Estates area, a plant that has raised the ire of many property owners in the neighboring subdivision. With zoning, because nuisance uses are still allowed but restricted to certain areas, it's still possible that those residents could be living next to a gravel pit.

"What happened with the Euclidean zoning ordinance is we've gotten into a huge argument defining uses that … no one really cares about," Colberg said. "I do think that we can avoid a lot of problems and grief by just simply setting aside the Euclidean zoning ordinance tonight and [focusing on] the conditional use permits."

When assembly members discussed the matter at the assembly meeting, the motion to introduce the core area zoning proposal failed, with assembly members Jim Colver and Dan Kelly in favor.

The conditional use permit, however, will be coming forward to the public at the Aug. 13 public hearing. That public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at Colony High School, in order to accommodate public input. The motion to bring the matter forward passed with assembly members Kelly Lankford Ladere and Bruce Bush

opposed.

Along with the setting aside of the Euclidean zoning proposal, assembly members unanimously rejected the idea to ask voters if, on an areawide basis, the borough should consider implementing zoning changes in areas outside the cities of Houston, Palmer and Wasilla. The matter, they agreed, was now moot.

"I would think it would be better to just simply set this aside," said Colberg, "because we're no longer dealing with the Euclidean ordinance."

Simpson agreed, saying she believed the language in the advisory question would, like the 1999 zoning advisory vote, be interpreted many ways.

Kelly said, although he introduced the ordinance, he, too, would vote against it.

"The intent was to take care of this if we were allowed to bring forward the Euclidean zoning ordinance," Kelly said.