Zoning plan eyed

MAT-SU -- The Mat-Su Borough Planning Department is holding open houses to raise public awareness and obtain comments about the Euclidian zoning proposal for the core area that is before the borough planning commission.

The open houses are one of several methods the borough planning department staff are using to obtain public comments about the zoning plan. Newsletters are being mailed to approximately 8,500 property owners within the core area, and planning staff has offered to attend meetings with other area groups to discuss the plan.

This is not the first time the borough has presented a zoning plan to the public. This particular proposal has been discussed around the planning commission table for several months now, and core-area zoning has been contemplated in the Valley since 1997. The current zoning ordinance for the core area was adopted in the 1970s, according to information presented at the open house.

The last plan presented, called "performance" or "flex" zoning, would have allowed several types of uses in the same area and was not well-received by some borough residents. Some say the skeptical view many people had of the plan was the result of somewhat confusing maps -- and in this round, the planning commission and planning staff made a concerted effort to have clear, precise maps.

The most recent plan, called Euclidian zoning, is a bit more defined, said Planning Chief Heather Bovat at the Wednesday open house at Tanaina Elementary in Wasilla.

"The character of each [zoning district] comes out strongly," Bovat explained. "I think in this type of ordinance you have some of your more traditional uses … you have some of the basic [districts] and you look at what we have out here in the core already …"

There are 12 zoning districts included in the plan -- multifamily residential, mixed-use performance, public lands and institutions, residential-planned unit development, single-family residential, suburban residential, agricultural residential, commercial, Hay Flats Recreation Area Special Land Use District, industrial, light commercial, multifamily/office.

Some of the districts were included simply because they were previously in existence.

The single-family residential district, for example, includes just two subdivisions, both of which petitioned to obtain the designation. The multifamily residential district was also created by those in the subdivisions or parts of subdivisions that petitioned for such a designation.

The other districts, said Planning Director Sandra Garley, were created after the planning commission reviewed a list of zoning districts that are used in communities across Alaska. Commissioners, she said, considered whether the districts fit in with the needs of the core area, then chose to keep it or toss it out.

"You try to, methodically in some ways and creatively, establish your districts," Bovat said.

Then, Garley said, they looked at the potential uses that should or could be included in each district.

"[Then] we looked at things that might fit in a district if there were a few conditions," Garley said.

"You really need to look at who is out there and … how are we going to accommodate all of the new folks that are moving out," Bovat said. As department staff wrote in its presentation at the open house, "Places must be found for all uses in a well-functioning society."

The zoning proposal is not without its opponents, however. Many people have used the open-house forum as a chance to make sure their needs were included in the overall zoning plan, Bovat said. One group that expressed concern over the plan, she said, was concerned about including private airstrips on the map and in the suburban residential area -- the district which covers much of the core area.

But, as both Bovat and Garley said, the public comment period is the time in which to bring it up.

"We moved through the process with the planning commission," Bovat said. After the planning commission worked on the proposed ordinance for several months, they have decided it's time the public had a chance to give their input.

"This is the time when the planning commission has basically said to the public, 'Give us a critique before it gets any further [along],'" Garley said. "This is an opportunity for the public to move something forward to the assembly that they will indeed be comfortable with and accept."

Bovat said planning staff is hoping the open houses will reach people who wouldn't normally attend a planning commission meeting.

"Not everyone feels comfortable testifying in front of a formal body," Bovat said. "This is more up-close and personal."

More open houses are scheduled after the new year. The next will be at Palmer High School from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 8.

The format is open and people are invited to stop in any time within that time frame. A final open house will be Saturday, Jan. 12, at Colony High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Planning staff is also willing to attend other meetings if requested.

Comments can be given via e-mail at hbovat@msb.co.mat-su.ak.us or through the borough's Web page at www.co.mat-su.ak.us. Comments can also be faxed to the department at 745-9876.

Complete copies of the draft ordinance can be obtained at the office in Palmer, calling the department at 745-9833, or by contacting the department through one of the methods listed above.