Planning commission approves consent agenda; sets Jan. 5 public hearings on zoning, tall structures and lake management

At its Dec. 15 meeting the Matanuska‑Susitna Borough Planning Commission approved the consent agenda, which included the Dec. 1, 2025 meeting minutes and introductions of three legislative matters for public hearing on Jan. 5, 2026.

The items listed on the consent agenda were:

- An amendment to MSB 8.55 (special events) to repeal the surety bond requirement; public hearing date listed as Jan. 5, 2026. - An amendment to MSB 17.67 (tall structures, including telecommunication facilities and wind energy conversion systems) to reduce minimum setback requirements for new telecommunications towers; public hearing date listed as Jan. 5, 2026. - An amendment to MSB 15.24 (assembly zoning functions) to update the process for initiating and amending lake management plans and to establish a fee for processing lake management plan requests; public hearing date listed as Jan. 5, 2026.

Staff names on the agenda were listed variously as Lehi Straune and Alex Straune (planning and land use director) and later in discussion a different spelling (Straub) was referenced by staff; those spellings are inconsistent in the transcript and should be treated as the names as they appear on the agenda pending authoritative staff confirmation. Development Services Manager Wade Long also told commissioners he had received transmittal forms for land use classification items for Jan. 5, including a proposed shooting range on 0 Lake Road that does not need introduction and will be heard on Jan. 5.

The commission approved the consent agenda by unanimous consent with no recorded objections.