Mat-Su Borough: Planning Commission Meeting Oct 19, 2026

All right, I hereby call the October 19th, 2026, uh, Planning Commission meeting to order at 6 PM. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Commissioner Allen. Here. Commissioner Fauna. Here. Commissioner Carpenter.

Here. Commissioner Glenn. Here. Planning Commissioners absent are McCabe, Scoggan, and Zacharodny. We have a quorum.

Thank you very much. Approval of the agenda. Are there any additions or changes to the agenda? All right, any objections to approving the agenda as written? Seeing and hearing none, the agenda is approved.

Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Glenn, would you please lead us in the Pledge? To the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much.

Consent agenda. Minutes. Regular meeting minutes, October 5th, 2026. Introduction for public hearing, quasi-judicial matters, none. Introduction for public hearing, legislative matters, none.

Are there any objections to approving the consent agenda as written? Right, hearing and seeing none. The consent agenda is approved.

Committee reports, none. Agency staff reports, none. Land use classification, none. All right, audience participation. Is there anyone in on the phone?

Caleb, do you have anyone on the phone?

No one on the phone. Okay, thank you. Um, is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak about anything that is not on the agenda for tonight? Anyone in the audience? All right.

Seeing and hearing that there are no persons to be heard either on the phone or in person, is there any objection to closing audience participation? Oh, yes, ma'am.

That's correct. Yes, ma'am. You bet. Anyone, uh, wish to speak on any items that are not on the agenda for tonight?

Okay. All right. Any objection to closing audience participation? No objection. Audience participation is closed.

Public hearing, quasi-judicial matters, Resolution 26-20, a resolution of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission approving an amendment to the hours of operation for an existing conditional use permit At 1150 North Helen Lane, located within Township 17 North, Range 1 West, Section 2, Seward Meridian, tax ID 10680001020. Staff Wade Long, Development Services Manager. And folks, let me just, uh, read the ex parte, uh, I mean the quasi-judicial matters memorandum here.

Uh, does anyone on the commission or your immediate family have a substantial financial interest in any property affected by this decision, or will you recognize a foreseeable profit as a result of this decision? Seeing everyone shaking their head no. Have you received or otherwise engaged in ex parte contact with the applicant, appellant, other interested parties, or members of the public concerning the application either before, during, or after this matter was submitted for decision?

No. And are you able to be impartial in this decision? Everyone is indicating yes. All right, thank you. Mr. Long, please provide your staff report.

Good evening, Chair, members of the commission. Wade Long, development services manager, assigned to process the proposed conditional use permit application associated with PC Resolution 26-20. A conditional use permit application has been submitted by Bad Grammar to modify the hours of operations for its permitted marijuana retail facility located within a 1,743-square-foot commercial building at 1150 North Helen Lane. The facility was originally approved under conditional use permit Resolution Number 17-020 on March 20th, 2017, and is currently operating pursuant to that approval. One of the permit conditions requires Planning Commission approval prior to any expansion of the approved, approved use.

Currently, the facility's hours of operation are limited to 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily. Earlier this year, during an AMCO review, staff became aware that the business had begun opening at 9:00 AM, which exceeded the hours authorized by the conditional use permit and constituted an expansion of operations. Upon notification by borough staff, the operator promptly returned to the approved hours. The applicant has subsequently submitted the current amendment application seeking authorization to allow operations from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily. Public notice— staff took the following actions to meet the public noticing requirements.

On September 18th, 2026, notices were mailed to all property owners within 600-foot radius of the property and to the North Lakes Community Council. A total of 45 notices were mailed. The permit application material was posted on the borough website on September 18th, 2026, and staff had not received any comments from the community or the community council. And, uh, following the borough clerk's public notice protocol, a notice was also posted at the following libraries: Big Lake, Sutton, Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, and Willow. Uh, the notice was also posted at the Dorothy Swanda Jones Building, the main borough building.

Library, uh, and library. Staff finds that the proposed conditional use permit amendment meets all applicable standards under MSB 17.60. Staff recommends approval of the requested 1-hour expansion of operating hours. Accordingly, staff is amenable to either of the following approaches, subject to the direction of the Planning Commission. Option 1, remove existing permit condition number 5 and allow operating hours at the owner's discretion, providing the facility remains in compliance with all applicable state and local regulations, which is already encapsulated in existing permit condition number 1.

State regulations currently permit marijuana retail facilities to operate between 8:00 AM 5:00 AM the following day. Or option 2, amend existing permit condition number 5 to allow the operate— to allow the hours requested by the applicant as follows: the hours of operation shall not exceed 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Long. Commissioners, do you have any questions for Mr. Long?

I have one. So, um, This business has been operating for roughly 9 years, is that right? Yes. Um, can you tell us, have you had any, uh, violations or any kind of issues that we should know about in that 9-year time? Zero.

Okay, thank you very much. Yes, sir.

So it's—. You said it's Bad Grammar, that's like, um, off of Bogart, kind of across the street where you would turn into, uh, Everett, right? Through the chair to Commissioner Carpenter. Correct. Correct.

Sorry. Any other questions for Mr. Long? Okay, thank you, Mr. Long. This time we'll proceed to opening public hearing. Is anyone on the phone?

Caleb, do you have anyone on the phone? All right. Is there anyone in, in the audience that would like to speak to this issue? Anyone? All right.

Seeing and hearing none. Oh, yes, sir.

The applicants. Yeah, I should ask, does anyone need to hear from the applicants? Any questions for the applicants? I think this might be pretty straightforward. So they're given 15 minutes if they want to speak to that.

You're welcome to take your time. Take the time if you need. I will tell you, just reading the tea leaves here, I think this is a pretty reasonable request. You haven't had a violation in, you know, however long it's been, you never have had one. So if you want to make a statement or anything, you're welcome to.

But yes, ma'am, please turn on your mic and please identify yourself and spell your last name for us.

My name is Terry Zell, and I'm one of the co-owners of Bad Grammar.

In the last 9 days, we've received 10 invoices from the borough, but it's not the borough. It looks like the borough. I don't know if you all— Alex, the most recent one that I've gotten, it's got your name on it. Wade, the one I got yesterday had your name on it. Uh, the only reason I know this is—.

Oh wow, so it's a scam. Oh, it is a big time. And the first time we got it, I almost went ahead. Yeah, before I went, wait a second, the borough doesn't never ask you to wire money. And second, who's this woman in Texas that I'm supposed to be sending money to?

So in 9 days, we received 10 over and over, and they look completely legit. Wow. But they end in .usa, which is another tell. So I'm just asking that maybe if someone has anything on the docket that might be contentious or at all, that you could send them out an email and say, you might be receiving some scam invoices or whatever. I mean, if I totaled this up, it would be over $45,000.

Wow. Well, good for you for being aware of that. Well, we're older, but our staff is very savvy. Good. Yeah.

And they, took one look at it and said, ah, do not go there. Wow. Uh, it's very clever how they have presented it to us, but yesterday I got 3, one right after the other. Yeah. So that's just something that I wanted to bring up because you're the borough.

Sure. Thank you for letting us know about that. I will ask you, um, so I found it interesting that you're asking to open an hour earlier when you close earlier than most stores. And so what was— what's that decision about? Is that the demographic?

You go ahead, honey. Okay, I was all ready for this. State your name. Uh, my name is Petersville, um, another owner of Bad Grammar. So When we set up the original CUP, we didn't know anything about what hours should we do.

And we just picked out, out of the blue, let's be open from 10 to 8 o'clock, 8 PM.

But when we actually opened, we just ran one shift and we were open from noon to 8 o'clock for 2 and a half years. And then there was obviously competition came in and we decided we have, we have to open earlier. And that's where I muffed it. I forgot. I mean, I forgot the, uh, the CUP hours thing.

Um, so the reason we, I mean, we just opened up at 9 for, for competition's sake. Okay, no, um, if I may interject, the reason that we chose to close at 8 o'clock—. That wasn't it—. Rather than our other store stays open later is because we are on a frontage road, what is supposed to be a frontage road for commercial businesses. We're the only commercial business on that road.

Everybody else has a house.

We have a subdivision all around us, and we thought it was really unfair to have traffic and perhaps stone people— you gotta know that's gonna happen— driving around when there might be children out there. And why, why upset your neighbors? So we said, let's just keep it at 8 o'clock. So you're— so you're just to be clear, then your request today is 9 to 8 is what you're asking for, right? Okay.

All right. Yeah. So, um, that reminds me, I think, you know, we need to discuss which approach we want to take. Um, and, and Alex, should we do that before we— you know, what's Proceed, Julie. So, you'll want to get a motion on the table.

So, you'll want to hear public hearing, of course. Um, and then, um, then generally speaking, after the public hearing, both staff and the applicants have a chance to respond, and then you'll get a— you'll close public hearing, get a motion on the table, and then you can make amendments, and that'll dictate which one— which option you choose. Sure. Well, I think I'm happy to ask again. I think we've Asked about public hearing.

Is there anyone who would like to speak to this issue? Caleb, was anyone called in?

No. Okay. Thank you.

Um, all right. So at this point, then, um, I'm going to go ahead and close the public hearing unless there's an objection. Any objection to closing public hearing? All right. This time I'll entertain a motion for Resolution 26-30.

I'll make a motion for Resolution 26-20. And, uh, Commissioner Glenn has made a motion. Can I get a second, please? Mr. Fonov, I'll second. Mr. Fonov has seconded.

The motion is seconded by Commissioner Fonov. Is there any discussion? Discussion at all? All right, is there any objection to approving Resolution 26-20 as written?

All right, then let's— for purpose of discussion, I'll object. And then let's decide which approach we want to take. And so can you kind of go over a little bit again the two different options for us?

Wade Long, Development Services Manager. Yeah, so I was offering a couple of options that gives them maybe some response to market forces or their customer needs or something to just remove defined hours of operation as a condition of the permit. So the first option would be to remove Option 5 from the previous permit, or current permit rather, and just default to Condition 1, which is for them to abide by state regulations, which— but it'll— and that allows them to be open from 8 AM through 5 AM the next day, gives them option to open and fluctuate their hours, rather. Sure. The other option is to put in stone that, uh, that they shall not exceed 9 AM to 8 PM daily, which is what they applied for.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Long. Um, in terms of discussion, I guess I'll I'll start with that. Um, it seems to me that the second alternative is the more sound alternative here. Um, I think, uh, most of these places have, uh, defined time limits, you know, that are, are, um, you know, reasonable. They're not, they're not open, you know, till 5 AM.

Um, and I think, uh, the applicant kind of described why this particular location, that sort of limited time hours, makes a lot of sense. Um, so that would be my leaning, is that we would go with the, uh, sort of set in stone time frame. But anyone else? Commissioner Carpenter? I, I agree.

I think, um, just the fact that they've showed that they don't want to stay open so late, they did that themselves. I think the choice of 9 AM is prob— it's right after morning traffic, everybody trying to get out of the subdivision at 7 to 8. You open up at 9, so I'm inclined to agree with you.

Mr. Glenn? I'll, I'll— I agree with that. I second it. So I'm hoping we can get a motion. Um, uh, I, I'm— I mean, from what I gather, you want to add a condition that has— because right now there's no hours of operation in this.

We want to add a condition here And I would seek language from Wade so we can get it right and have it match other permits. All right.

And I have it, I have it in print right here, Alex. Sure. Yeah.

You can read in the record. I'm just reading the record. The hours of operation shall not exceed 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily.

I'm good.

Yeah, so we would be good to have a formal motion to amend, to amend, to add the fifth condition. Okay, all right. So commissioners, can I get a motion to amend, uh, adding the fifth condition that Mr. Strawn has just written? I'll make a motion to amend, adding the— what is it— the 9 to, uh, to Uh, what are we at? 9 To 8 PM.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, Commissioner Carpenter. I'll second. Thank you, sir. All right, we want to do it.

Is there objection? Right, I mean, I don't think there's an objection. We don't even need to vote, right? Any objection? All right, no objections.

Um, so then back to the main— back to the main motion as amended. Any objection to passing 26-20 as amended. Objection. 26-20 Has been approved. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, public hearing legislative matters. Resolution 26-21, a resolution of the Matanuska-Susitna Rural Planning Commission recommending adoption of the fiscal year 2028 capital improvement program Staff is Natasha Grover, current planner. Public hearing date October 19th, 2026. Miss Grover, please provide your staff report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Natasha Grover, planner, and I have the pleasure of speaking to you all about the Capital Improvement Program this evening. The Capital Improvement Program, or CIP, has been in place for nearly as long as the borough has been. It was established in 1965 as part of the Mat-Su Borough capital budget.

As you can imagine, things have looked different over the years, but some recent program successes to note include the completion of fiscal year 2026 projects, which were Jordan Lake Park improvements, Wigme Road restroom installation in Talkeetna, and Government Peak Recreation Area acoustic improvements. The current budgeted projects for FY27 includes funding for 3 of our top-ranked projects from last year. It was the Talkeetna Village Park entrance and landscaping accessibility, Lake Louise Lake Louise community dock repair and the Alcantara ball field renovations. The Lake Louise dock repair has plans to take place this winter as soon as ice is formed, so hopefully soon, but hopefully not so soon. Um, the Alcantara ball field repairs are anticipated to occur spring of 2027, and the Talkeetna Village Park entrance is in the planning stages for hopeful completion in 2027 as well.

I'd like to give a brief overview of the CIP process and how the ranked list in front of you came to be, because we only get to talk to you about it once a year, so it's a good refresher for you guys, for us and for all the public that are participating. Project nominations are accepted, uh, on a year-round basis in an open nomination period with a deadline of August 1st for consideration in the following budget cycle. So this year it was August 2026 deadline for consideration in this upcoming, uh, fiscal year 2028 budget. As a side note, this year the deadline was extended until August 17th to allow for some additional time. Once received, projects were initially reviewed for program eligibility in meeting the nomination criteria.

There's 5 main nomination criteria criteria that we have. One, that it has to be within borough powers to accomplish. Two, it cannot be considered routine maintenance or equipment replacement. Three, it has to have a minimum cost of $20,000 and a maximum cost of $1 million. So last year and then this year, you'll see one of the projects at $1 million request.

It's a much larger project than that. They're just capped at asking us for $1 million because we won't give them more than that. Uh, number four, the project has to have a minimum lifespan of at least 5 years. And number 5, it must align with a goal or objective and of an adopted borough plan. That was much harder than it should have been.

This year there were 12 projects nominated, with 9 of those qualifying as valid projects. Once projects have been confirmed as eligible, a scoring committee then meets to thoroughly review, score, and rank all nominated projects. The scoring committee consisted of one person from nearly every borough department, and so that was planning, Community Development, Public Works, Finance, and Emergency Services. The scoring rubric includes a weighted scoring system that places emphasis on projects that have a legal requirement, like the Talkeetna accessibility, um, project that, that was funded, positive impact on public health, and connection to existing borough projects. This year, the rubric was updated to include a factor measuring the economic benefit of the nominated projects, uh, which is also a heavily weighted emphasis.

Projects were ranked based on the review and if the project would include committing ongoing borough funds for operating and maintenance costs for a project, and if the project would create revenue for the Mat-Su community. Uh, what you have included in the packet in front of you is a summarized list of all 9 valid project nominations in order of their ranked priority as a result of the scoring committee's efforts. The purpose of this document and process is for the community to identify projects important to them and send along through Planning Commission to the Assembly for potential funding. The FY28 CIP will be presented to the Assembly in November and December for their consideration, and then be available to them in spring 2027 during their budget deliberations. In a nutshell, the Capital Improvement Program is the community's tool to communicate their desired goals for improvement projects, and it is the borough's tool to plan and prioritize short-term accomplishments.

The CIP process as a whole focuses to elevate proposals with community support prioritize infrastructure development with alignment to borough plans, and enhance the quality of life for Mat-Su Borough residents and visitors. Thank you for your time, and I welcome any questions. Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? Any questions?

All right, thank you very much.

At this time, we'll proceed with opening the public hearing. If there's anyone on the phone who'd like to speak, Please press, please press star 3. Caleb, anyone on the phone? Okay, thank you. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak to Resolution 26-21?

Yes, ma'am, please come up and make sure the mic's on and, uh, state and spell your last name, please.

Do you want me to fill the form out first, or can I do that after? Would you like to fill out the form? Yes, please.

Good evening, Commissioner Allen and members of the Planning Commission and borough staff. My name is Michelle Hune. I am a resident of Lazy Acres subdivision off of East Smith Road Extension, and we have a very large subdivision going in behind our home, 57 homes, which has just completed the roads in Phase 1. And last year, um, I submitted some letters from 4 community councils, and the 5th Community Council did a letter of support. So there was 5 resolutions— or 4 resolutions and 1 letter of support for Project Number 4, the vault toilet.

And I just want to comment on that, and I As you are reviewing and commenting on these capital improvement program projects, I want to just bring to light a couple different things about this particular project. So the Matanuska Peak trailhead is seeing increased user trail use. It's just goes without saying that, um, the year-round usage of the trail continues to increase, and with that comes vehicles that park and block private property residents and sanitation issues and public safety issues. The borough is very well aware of this, and, um, so are the neighbors. So I have collaborated with the neighbors on a number of times, and they know that this is an important project.

I—. As it's number 4, um, it's pretty reasonable. And what I really want to emphasize is the collaboration of this project. So this is a great opportunity to show state, borough, and private developer collaboration. And sometimes Good things come to those who wait.

So although I thought this was really important last year, the private developer may weigh in in the spring to assist. The borough recently received over 600 acres from State Department of Natural Resources on the north side of Matanuska Peak Trail, which connects into the Lazy Mountain trail system. Huge recreation area. And so these future property owners of this private development As long as they can see that there's collaboration, and we want to make sure that the planning is appropriate. So we're not wasting taxpayer dollars, like doing this after the fact.

So when all the drainage issues are resolved for the parking lot, possibly we can get the toilet in at the same time and alleviate the concern of the private property owners who are living there and experiencing drainage issues and other things. Together. So I just want to say, please take a look at that, and I would appreciate hearing your comments about that vault toilet. Thanks. Thank you very much.

Anyone else in the audience? Yes, ma'am, come on up.

Good evening, Commissioner, and the rest of the Planning Commission and the borough employees that are really helpful on the phone and through email. I'm Janet Reed, and I am a member of the South Knik River Community Council, and I'm the current President of our council, and our project is rated number 3 on this list. And we're just asking for some money to help us finish up the addition on our property that we have there. We have a community council building because we'd like to provide some emergency supplies for natural—. Excuse me—.

Natural disaster, and we need somewhere to store it. And we have, we have already done a lot of work on this expansion.

We've already done the foundation excavation and the concrete work and put in the floor joists. And we also are working on installing a generator for times of power outages that will be supplied, powered by propane. So, so far we've already put in for our first phase, we have already invested $33,000 roughly, and most of the labor has been volunteer for this addition.

And we did go through the process of receiving the State of Alaska Fire— State Fire Marshal permit to build on this, and this has happened since we put in— we received this after we put in the application for this grant. We really look forward to expanding our little community council building there to provide a service for the surrounding community and the, and the Butte area or anybody, because oftentimes roads will be closed and sometimes it happens when the power goes out and if people need a place to go during power outages or get blocked off from getting home to their home, we want to provide them a safe place where they can come and keep warm and get supplies and charge their phones. So I appreciate any support you give to our community. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Any questions?

Thanks. Thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else in the audience, or has anyone called in? Caleb?

No. Okay. Anyone else wish to speak to this? Okay.

All right. Seeing and hearing no other persons to speak, are there any objections to closing the public hearing?

All right. Seeing and hearing none, I'll now close the public hearing.

This time I'll entertain a motion for Resolution 26-21.

Commissioner Fronov, I'll second that. You move? Yes. Thank you. Sorry, I might have jumped the gun there.

Commissioner Carpenter, I'll second that. Thank you, Commissioner Carpenter. All right, uh, is there any discussion to be had?

Any discussion? All right. Yes, Commissioner Fronov. Commissioner Fronov, uh, as a personal user of the Matanuska Peak Trailhead, Uh, yeah, that would— I like seeing that on, um, on our future budget, and I do wish to see this go forward, um, because there is a lot of, especially in the last couple years, a lot of, uh, youth, uh, young adults, uh, getting outdoors, recreating, especially in the beautiful mountains in the valley. That's something, uh, I wish to support, and making it more convenient and comfortable for everybody is something I'm completely for.

Very well said, and I couldn't agree more. And I, I really liked the way that she characterized the potential for this to be a public-private sort of partnership for folks to work together in the community. I think that's a, uh, that's I'm optimistic about that. I think that's, that's great. Any other comments?

Anything else? Okay. All right. And then at this time, is there any objection to approving Resolution 26-21 as written? Seeing and hearing no objections, Resolution 26-21 has been adopted.

All right. Correspondence information, none. Unfinished business, none. New business, none. Just, Ron, are you going to have anything?

Staff, a couple things. Commission business, any questions? Commissioners, do you have any questions regarding the future agenda items provided in your folder? Any questions about any of that? Okay.

All right, we'll go to director and commissioner comments, but this— but first I'd like to turn to Mr. Strawn. Do you have anything for the staff? Yeah, I just, I want to point out a couple things here. First of all, Secretary of Transportation Duffy was in Palmer today and announced $250 million for the rail to get completed, which is a really big deal. A lot of exciting things happening in our community.

Um, we, uh, and I, we have these fraudulent invoices that are coming. We're completely aware of it. We are going to modify our application, our permit application, and then give kind of a verbal with every applicant that comes in that this is happening. It has been happening regularly with all of anybody who applies for a conditional use permit or a variance. Somebody is creating these false invoices.

We've contacted the authorities, we've let our IT know, we've let everybody know, but, uh, the most important people that need to know are the applicants because they're the ones who are potentially being victimized by this. Um, so we are addressing that. Um, and then, uh, Uh, just, you know, we have a lot. We've hired sort of all new current planners. Natasha is like the one who's been here the longest.

Um, and so, um, bear with us as we, we have quite a few conditional use permits and variances and whatnot in the hopper. They're going to be coming your way. We're probably, uh, there's a potential that we're going to end up canceling the November meeting because we don't have anything on that agenda. We are going to be getting these permits coming through to you guys. So, yeah, um, that's all I got.

Okay, well, let's start with commissioner comments. Commissioner Fana. Um, just happy to see everybody out here and audience participation as well. So thanks so much. Commissioner Carpenter, no comment?

All right, Mr. Glenn. Yeah, great day for the borough. I was just over and met with Duffy, and we've got that money. It's in the hopper, and they're expecting to start turning dirt on the rail extension here in the spring. So that's pretty impressive.

This has been long, long overdue. This is a huge safety issue for the Mat-Su Borough. We're going to be able to bypass all the hazmat material that has been coming from out of Anchorage through downtown and through downtown Wasilla for a long time. And it's a disaster waiting to happen, literally. So, you know, there's an excess of 200 truckloads of fuel go north through downtown Wasilla every day, and it's not overly intelligent.

So finally, we are there. We're going to be able to bypass all that, put it on the rail, and railroads are good. So anyway, appreciate all of you. Thanks for the audience. Participation.

We're in back of your project, so we'll talk to you. Thank you. Um, well, first I want to say happy Alaska Day. Um, so today was, uh, always an important day for us as Alaskans to remember. Um, but I, uh, I agree.

I, I was— I read the, uh, article about the $250 million, uh, before I came over today, and, um, that's, that's a big deal. I mean, that's, that's real money, and that's a big deal for our valley. And, um, and going to, you know, make some positive changes, as folks have mentioned. So good stuff. I also appreciate when folks come out from the community and advocate for the neighborhoods and advocate for the projects they care about that matters.

So thank you so much for that. Okay, at this point, I will call this meeting adjourned at 6:30.