PALMER -- City leaders are prepared to jump into the fray over Proposition 1, a proposal on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough ballot in October that some on the City Council fear would affect development right outside city boundaries.
Proposition 1, based on Measure 37 passed in Oregon in 2005, would require the borough to pay property owners for loss in value that results from new restrictions the government imposes on land use.
The Palmer City Council introduced a measure Tuesday that would allow the city to spend up to $5,000 to sway voters against passage of the proposition in the Oct. 2 borough election. A public hearing on the measure is scheduled for noon Tuesday.
Palmer typically holds evening public hearings. Palmer city clerk Janette Bower said the noon hearing is the result of scheduling conflicts among City Council members.
"I couldn't get a quorum that evening," Bower said.
Bower said the council is also up against a time crunch. State law prevents cities from getting involved in ballot measures unless money has been specifically appropriated for that purpose.
"Even a resolution opposing it ... is city money used to influence the outcome of an election," Bower said.
If the City Council waited until its next meeting, Sept. 11, to appropriate money to fight the ballot measure, any decisions on spending that money would have to wait until Sept. 25, just six days before the election.
Palmer Mayor John Combs said he knows of no prior instance of the city itself trying to sway the vote on a ballot issue. But Proposition 1 stands to harm the city as well as the borough, he said.
The ballot measure says "if a public entity enacts or enforces a new land use regulation that restricts the use of private real property ... and has the effect of reducing the fair market value of the property ... the owner of the property shall be paid just compensation."
"We're a public entity," Combs said. "The opinion (we've heard) is that it definitely applies to the city of Palmer and to Wasilla and Houston."
Whether it applies within the city or not, deputy mayor Tony Pippel said he believes the measure would stall development of critical projects like roads near the city that could be problematic.
"We have a very small city. What happens outside our city would be impacted by this," Pippel said.
City leaders may do more than just pass a resolution opposing the measure. Pippel said he hopes the city sends information to city voters about the measure and its potential effects. Bower said city councilors discussed buying ads in print and on radio but no decisions have been made about where the $5,000, if approved, will be spent. That discussion will likely happen after the Sept. 4 public hearing, she said.
Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at www.adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.
