The group responsible for providing planning advice and making land plot decisions in the Kenai Peninsula Borough is losing five members.
The planning commission is made up of borough residents who advise the borough assembly on planning-related matters. The commission has final authority on approving or rejecting plans for private and public lands in the borough. It also receives input from advisory planning commissions, local groups within the area that represent specific communities.
In a presentation last month, Planning Director Robert Ruffner explained that the current size of the commission just isn’t convenient, and that reducing it has been a goal of his since he took on the director role.
“The planning commission has 14 members on it,” he said. “Frankly, it’s a bit unwieldy, and I don’t really think we make any better decisions as a result of having that amount of representation.”
That 14-member commission may be the largest of any borough in Alaska.
When the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly originally set out to change the size of the planning commission, an ordinance proposed nine districts that aligned with the map for assembly and school board members.
But the City of Soldotna was unhappy with the loss of city representation in that plan. At a meeting in May, the city council expressed concerns about being represented by residents living outside of city limits but within the same district. The City of Homer also took issue with that ordinance.
Assembly member Tyson Cox, who represents Soldotna, proposed an amended plan for the map, drawing on the comments from the city and concerns about complicating the permitting application process to create a nine-member district that incorporated city representation. He explained his reasoning at a committee meeting on June 6.
“If you live in a city, you have to have the approval of the city, if you’re in a first-class or home-rule city. The dilemma that causes, at least for my area, and for districts with city and non-city areas, is that you don’t have an equitable application process,” he said.
Instead, Cox proposed four seats to represent cities — Kenai, Soldotna, Seward and Homer — and five at-large seats representing unincorporated areas. The at-large seats cover Nikiski, Kalifornsky, the south peninsula, the Funny River/Sterling area, and the eastern peninsula.
Director Robert Ruffner expressed his support for the amended reduction.
“I’m happy to see that we got to a nine-seat solution,” he told assembly members.
Cox brought the amended proposal to the assembly during its June 6 meeting.
Nikiski Member Peter Ribbens expressed support for the original ordinance, where districts matched those of the assembly. He was one of three no votes, but the ordinance ultimately passed, securing the new nine-member commission.
Then, last Tuesday, the assembly was tasked with approving the map for the new planning commission, with those nine districts. Despite a motion to postpone the issue, the assembly unanimously approved the map.
The ordinance says the Seldovia seat is currently vacant, and won’t require removing a member. As for the other four now-obsolete members, Borough Mayor Micciche will have the ability to remove commissioners if necessary, according to the ordinance.
