Zoning issues are primary concern, mayor says

PALMER -- From the ever-widening swath of the Parks Highway, to the proliferation of box-stores in Wasilla, every part of the Valley seems to be growing these days.

Palmer, although its growth may not be as drastic and visible as other parts of Mat-Su, is no exception.

As residential and commercial areas of the city continue to grow at an increasing rate, the challenges facing the Palmer City Council and the city's planning and zoning commission are mounting, Mayor John Combs said.

Elected mayor on Nov. 2, Combs says he wants the council and the commission to find new ways to plan and control Palmer's growth.

"This Valley is going to be full of people and shops and businesses," Combs said. "But we want to keep Palmer, Palmer. We want to hang on to our quality of life and our cultural identity while welcoming new residences and new businesses."

In 1999, the city council approved a comprehensive plan to rezone parts of the city and take a look at where and how the city should grow over the next 10 to 15 years.

During the summer, graduate students from the University of Washington met with city council members and members of the planning and zoning commission to work on revisions to the comprehensive plan. They will return in January to develop a long-term plan for the city.

"We're a different community right now than we were in 1999," Combs said. "Some changes and updates to the comprehensive plan are needed."

Since 1999, Palmer has seen tremendous growth. From 2000 to October 2004, the value of building projects in the city exceeded $72 million, according to the city's building department comparison report. As of last month, building costs for 2004 are nearly $12 million.

In the face of such intense building, Combs and the city council are trying new methods to control growth.

Last month the council held several work sessions and developed new zoning categories for residential areas. There are now four different residential zones; previously there were only two.

The new zones, R-1 through R-4, will enable city planners to be more specific in their designations of land use. The zones range from R-1 for single family homes, R-2 for up to a four-plex, R-3 for up to an eight-plex and R-4 for anything larger.

"[The new zoning categories] give us more of a handle on where some of these larger, multi-family dwellings are going in," Combs said. "We can't have a string of single-family houses and then a 36-unit apartment complex springing up."

This year, most of the city's growth has been residential. According to Palmer's Building Department, of the 129 permits issued so far this year, more than 50 have been for new houses.

Some of those new residences are not single-family homes. Currently, two 12-plex apartment buildings are nearing completion on Chugach Street, just north of Mountain Rose Estates.

In 2003, there were 55 new housing units built in Palmer, including 14 duplexes and six multi-family homes.

Now that new residential zones have been created, the council's next step will be to update commercial zones, possibly adding more categories, Combs said.

"The general philosophy of the council right now, the number-one priority, is that we have to resolve this zoning issue," Combs said. "We need more zoning categories."

Currently the city council and the planning and zoning commission are holding joint work sessions to work out how the new zones will work.

Jim Rogers, who until recently chaired the planning and zoning commission, said there will always be exceptions to zoning ordinances, regardless of what types of ordinances are put into code.

"The codes themselves demand that we constantly be aware of the changing conditions out there and be proactive instead of reactive," Rogers said. "That's always been my philosophy."

Rogers, who served on the planning and zoning commission for the past 18 years, said the housing industry is a tremendous economic driver, but once residences are built, a support structure is necessary to protect that growth.

"There are costs involved with every residence," Rogers said. "We can't overtax or it will hinder growth."

That's why Combs says he is looking ahead, 10 or 20 years down the road. He wants the proper zoning available so there is a place for growth and the adverse impact on surrounding neighborhoods is minimized.

"It's going to take work and planning, but I grew up here and what we want to see is the same thing, only bigger. I think it can be done," Combs said. "This has always been a planned community and I want to keep it a planned community."