community meetings, Volume 6 number 5, May 2004 Ester Planning Committee: First, Emma Creek The Ester Community Association had its spring meeting, with Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker in attendance. As stated in the April edition of The Ester Republic, Mayor Whitaker made Lori Backes liaison to the ECA to begin communication between our community and the borough. Taking up from were local resident Devta Khalsa left off in her article last month, the ECA solicited community participants to join the Ester Community Planning Committee. They immediately began scheduling meetings and began work on a decisive action plan. Over 28 local residents began meeting every Monday following the ECA meeting putting together a consensus for a comprehensive plan concerning the Emma Creek East and West subdivision plan. Jeff Rogers was nominated as the spokesperson to directly communicate with Lori Backes, and Devta Khalsa and I are spearheading the Emma Creek issues. Over twenty residents walked the entire parcel on Sunday May 2 to observe where roads and building sites would be feasible. One group walked the road forward and backward to consider safe access spots while the rest of the group walked the entire 150-plus acres. An issues letter was developed in part from these efforts to more clearly define the impact that the borough’s sale would have on the land. The concerns described in this letter include issues of highway safety and access, appropriate land use and zoning, environmental integrity and lifestyle, and the borough’s involvement of the community in the planning process and the influence (or lack of it) in that planning process. The formal statement of issues was drafted to address the concerns of the community with the sudden decision to develop Emma Creek East and Emma Creek West, which will be delivered to the borough for consideration. One of the biggest concerns heard from so many residents in the surrounding Ester area is the surprise that the Borough was moving ahead with the development with no platted road systems and relatively small lots. If the borough moves ahead with their development, the Old Nenana Highway could be looking at over forty driveways encroaching onto the highway in just a two-mile stretch. We hope that they reconsider this approach but have been told that there is no money available to plat roads and that it will be up to the individual buyers to pay for their own platting and driveway building. It is unknown how the borough will react to the suggestions of the Ester Planning Committee, so we are taking a proactive stance and moving forward with a local petition for all citizens to sign, which will also be delivered to the borough. The hope is that the borough will recognize that they have moved too quickly with their decision to auction off the lots before all of the issues have been addressed. The petition, which briefly lists the concerns of Ester-area residents and requests that the borough involve the community in a thorough planning process, is available for signing at Mushing magazine and the John Trigg Ester Library. At the May 10 EPC meeting the final draft of the issues statement was ratified. The borough has stated that the next step in the subdivision process is to solicit bids for surveying the three parcels which will go up for sale. Our issues statement is being submitted before this process begins in hopes that the platting board will consider lot size and driveway access issues before the survey bid is finalized. If there is no resolution then our next step is to address the surveyor’s decisions through the platting board and join en mass at the next available platting meeting to try to sway their decisions towards larger lots and safer highway access for the lots. The next stage is the planning board’s meeting (date not yet set). The final step where public comment is heard is the actual Borough Assembly meeting. This date is not yet available but will probably be sometime in late summer. All of these times and meetings are very important: the community has a special window of opportunity to help make decisions for the future of Ester and the way we would like to see it developed. As Devta Khalsa said in last month’s Republic, “Ester can set an example, and be a prototype for positive, humanitarian change, for a thriving community.” Our community is growing; our decisions now and those of our borough will have a resounding impact on all our futures here. Let’s slow down, do this properly, and make good ones. | ||
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