Zoning plan should be scrutinized

A Spectrum by Mary Psenak

This latest zoning plan is the Valley's worst nightmare come to life. This is a poorly thought-out document and, if adopted, will destroy the quality of life for all except the wealthy or well-connected.

Much of the text, and all of the map, is the work of one person -- Rodney Schulling. He is proud of his own personal Shangri-La. He does not live in the Valley, and he is not even an even an employee of the borough, but an independent contractor. He has designed a "planner's dream" with everything in its "perfect" zone, with no regards to how the property is now being used.

Check the map and note how many of the parcels that you know are being used for a commercial purpose have been given a different type of zoning, many times residential.

Goals of the plan, Page 4 of the zoning packet:

No. 5 mentions "discouraging undo concentrations of population." In other words, live where we tell you to, not where you want to.

No. 11: "Recognizing and preserving traditional uses of land within the core area." Absolutely bogus -- many long-standing uses were completely ignored. For example, Mr. Schulling denied commercial zoning for a five-acre parcel with a shop and equipment yard that had been in business for 20 years. A few hundred yards down the road, he blessed two parcels of land, never used commercially, with commercial zoning. When questioned, he said he just felt this was the best place for commercial!

No. 13: "Ensuring that sufficient and appropriate areas exist for commercial and industrial development." Study the map and you will see that commercial and industrial zoning are conspicuous by the limited amount available. When told he needed commercial income to help pay for schools, etc., Mr. Schulling's answer was that the people outside the core area could have the commercial property.

The core area is divided into 12 areas, each with allowed uses, accessory uses and conditional uses. Anything not included in these uses is prohibited, and all conditional uses need a permit purchased from the borough. All districts have serious problems, especially the Mixed Use Performance district that allows absolutely nothing to be done without a permit, including building a house. I can only mention a few items, so read the plan and see how it affects you.

The agricultural district allows no lots less than five acres. When the farmer retires and sells the property, he will likely receive a letter price because the land cannot be subdivided into the normal one- to three-acre lots. The large size of the lots will also discriminate against lower income people. Zoning for the elite.

Single-family residential has two things to recommend it. No. 1: It spells out exactly what can and cannot be done. No. 2: The people in these areas voted for this zoning, (even if not 100 percent of them wanted it.)

Suburban-residential district, yellow on the map. Much of the property in the core area is in the suburban residential district. In this area, where the greatest amount of people live, there are only two allowed uses and six accessory uses. There are 21 conditional uses. Anything other than that contained in these three categories is prohibited.

You cannot have a garden or a greenhouse unless you get a conditional-use permit. In the SFR District, gardens and greenhouses are spelled out and need no permit.

You can have a home business but cannot store commercial vehicles or equipment on the property whether you have three acres or 30.

There has been no provision made for horses or 4-H animals, such as chickens, rabbits, geese, etc., in this district.

The mixed-use performance district allows no activity without a permit. It regulates noise, glare, odor, traffic impact and even vibration.

Grand-fathering or conditional-use permits, Page 48: If this zoning passes, many people will find their property zoned contrary to the way it is being used today. This is a preexisting non-forming use, meaning it was legal when you did it, but isn't now. There are two ways you can correct this. No. 1: A structure can be grandfathered in but it cannot be extended, enlarged or moved to any other part of the lot. If more than 50 percent is destroyed, it cannot be rebuilt. No. 2: Conditional-use permit. A permit may be obtained from the borough, for a fee, but a public hearing must be held and anyone may come and object to your use of your land.

Cost of implementing plan -- who's going to pay?

Dozens of properties have been put in districts that don't reflect their actual use. These non-conforming uses need to be corrected just to be legal.

In addition, there are 107 places in the plan where conditional permits are needed on an ongoing basis. Are we talking tens or hundreds of permits? Is the Planning Commission going to be working five days a week, eight hours a day, to handle the public hearings? How many new employees are we going to have? Where is the new building going to be located that will house the new department? And is the entire borough going to be asked to pay for what essentially benefits just the core area?

Misdemeanor -- Last, but not least, failure to comply under this chapter is a misdemeanor.

If the extreme environmentalists get this plan through the assembly, they will think they have found heaven, but for the rest of us, it will be purgatory.

Mary Psenak is longtime Valley resident, a member of Mat-Su Properties Owners Association and a member of the Frontiersman advisory panel.