The Kenai Peninsula Borough got permission from assembly members last week to spend $1.2 million on a relatively small chunk of land in Seward that could eventually open up a much bigger swath of land for development. Officials hope it can help relieve the region’s notoriously tight housing market.
Borough Mayor Peter Micciche says the borough’s interest in the land is directly tied to housing shortages.
“Since I was elected, you asked me to try and work on the housing issues, particularly in the eastern and southern part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough,” he said. “They’re substantial. We think it’s bad here on rental costs. There’s nowhere to live.”
At stake are 80 acres just outside Seward, near Salmon Creek Road. The area is referred to as Blueberry Hill and would provide a new entry point to over 2,000 acres of borough land inaccessible by road. For comparison, that’s roughly the same size as the City of Soldotna.
“It also secures future decision makers, residents in the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Seward community a very important option for planning for the long-term, future growth of the land and resource needs of the area,” said borough land officer Aaron Hughes.
He says the 2,000 acres are doubly attractive because the high elevation means there are no flood or tsunami risks. And Micciche says the borough would get a fair price for the land, which is currently owned by the Talkeetna-based Stoney Holdings LLC.
But before the borough buys the property, it wants to make sure it can actually be used to access the other 2,000 acres. That’s why assembly members authorized $50,000 for a road feasibility study. The borough will split the cost with the Alaska Mental Health Trust, which also owns land in the area. If the results are favorable, the borough will move forward with the purchase.
Assembly members’ approval of the study-contingent land buy came over some neighbors’ protests.
Jackie Marshall has lived in the neighboring Questa Woods subdivision for decades. She says she’s sympathetic to the housing shortage, but is concerned about the impacts of development to her neighborhood.
“I can imagine the back-road mischief increasing if the road between Salmon Creek, Camelot and Questa Woods moves forward,” she said. “On any given day or night, people are walking their dogs, riding their bikes and horses and strolling through the Questa Woods neighborhood with little ones.”
There’s no official development plan for either piece of land. Hughes, the land management agent, told assembly members any development proposals would need to go through a public process before being implemented.
The purchase has the blessing of Seward city officials. City Manager Kat Sorensen described it as forward-thinking and said it’s the result of collaboration between Seward and the borough to help the eastern peninsula grow.
“This parcel presents a rare and valuable opportunity to unlock access to already owned, developable land and explore the opportunities that come with it,” she said.
Cindy Ecklund, the assembly member who represents Seward, was the only vote against. She thinks $1.2 million is too much money for an access point. And she says she overcame her own housing challenges after moving to Seward – living in a trailer with her two kids until she and her husband built a log cabin out of trees from Tern Lake.
“It's not easy, but we found a reason to stay,” she said. “We loved it, and we stayed, and we found a way to make it work. So sometimes you can't have your pie or your cake and eat it too. Sometimes you have to go through some hardships to be where you want to get.”
But other assembly members had different thoughts. Kelly Cooper, who represents the similarly-housing-strapped town of Homer, says she’s looking to the future.
“As we live in our communities, people talk about the lack of housing, and when we talk about our economy, we aren't able to hold people here,” she said. “So I look at this as an investment.”
If the borough decides to move forward with buying the land, the closing date is projected to sometime in September.
