WASILLA -- City Councilwoman Diana Straub took heat at a City Council work session Monday from contractors and industry officials over a batch of proposals she wants drawn up as city laws.
The proposals require more time for public comment on proposed new subdivisions in the city.
They would add features for new subdivisions, such as pullout space for bus loading zones and paved sidewalks on both sides of the street in larger subdivisions.
The construction impact fees that are part of the proposal also caught developers' attention. To remodel a home, Straub's proposal requires impact fees of $1 per square foot. New residential and commercial construction would trigger fees of $2 per square foot. The money from the impact fees, Straub said, would cover the cost of signs, pedestrian needs, school needs and traffic needs for the new construction.
"What impact would a remodel of my kitchen have on signage?" Wasilla resident Debbie Harrison asked the Council on Monday.
Harrison, a real estate agent in Wasilla, said she believes the impact fees will drive development out of town.
Deputy Mayor Howard O'Neil said a new 1,800 square foot home would cost $50 in city permits to build today. If the Council approves Straub's proposed impact fees, he said, the cost would be $3,600. Home Depot, at more than 123,000 square feet, would have paid $246,232 square feet to build if the new fees passed.
"If all these ordinances pass, this could single-handedly stop development in the city in six months," Planning Commissioner Greg Koskela said.
One speaker said the fees, if passed, would be the highest in the world. Not so, Straub said. They're much less than what her mother, a contractor, pays to build in California.
After the meeting, Straub said she brought the package forward after two city residents, Joyce and Karl Lund, had made no headway asking the Wasilla Planning Commission to address their concerns.
The Lunds live near the proposed Shadowood development. That subdivision of 195 homes on 59 acres, according to an early proposal, has some neighbors up in arms. Neighboring acre-plus lots would go from quiet and peaceful to flooded with noise, traffic and an influx of people, nearby landowners told the city at past Council meetings.
At the Monday meeting, Karl Lund said the ideas he sent to Straub didn't include impact fees. He was concerned about buffers and more strict land use laws, he said.
Stan Tucker, chairman of the city Planning Commission, said the proposals were unfair to new developers.
"It's asking that the burden be placed on new development, at the benefit of old development," Tucker said. "If property owners want a 20-foot buffer, 10 feet of it they should be responsible for."
Koskela said the commission is updating the laws that refer to development. Why, he asked, didn't Straub start the process at the Planning Commission instead of handing the matter to the city attorney?
Straub said the commission had a chance but failed to act. She asked Lund to draw up his proposals again so she could submit them to the Council for consideration.
It's consideration she wants, Straub said. The proposals are only a starting point, she said, and some of them are flawed.
"Let's let the people who live in this subdivision come and let's get some action taken," Straub said.
Wasilla Mayor Dianne Keller said Straub's approach to bringing the measure to the table was flawed too. She said she's concerned that Council members went along with Straub's request to devote attorney time and money to drawing up ordinances that may not be well received by the public.
"My primary concern is the fact that we have Council members who vote on issues they haven't even read," Keller said.
Daily News reporter Rindi White can be reached at rwhite@adn.com or 352-6709.
