If you’ve ever thought about buying land to build a home in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the conditions just got a lot more favorable. That’s after borough assembly members greenlit a program last week that aims to make it easier to buy and develop residential property on the peninsula.
The program is a brainchild of Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and the borough's land and legal departments.
“We've been looking for ways, and I've been talking about it with you for a while, on getting land into the hands of Kenai Peninsula residents for creating housing,” he told assembly members earlier this month. “This is our answer.”
He said the program is a direct response to the peninsula’s tight housing market, which is exacerbated by a robust short-term rental market.
The program will give a discount to eligible participants who bid on qualifying pieces of borough land. For program buyers, the borough will knock off a quarter of the final bid amount. Buyers will be required to put down 10% of the new price and then have the option to enter into a financing agreement with the borough for the remaining balance.
But, there’s a catch.
Buyers can only access those financial perks if they develop the land they buy. Per the ordinance, that means putting a home on a permanent foundation on the property or getting a professional appraisal showing the land has a structure that meets program specifications.
And not all borough land is eligible for the program’s perks. Borough Land Management Officer Aaron Hughes says there’s a reason for that.
“The intent is to set up participants in all that program with the highest potential for success,” he said. “So we want to make sure we're looking at residential properties with utilities that are nearby.”
Borough land worth more than $120,000 and inaccessible by existing borough roads isn’t eligible for the program. The land must be consistent with other pieces of residential land, and cannot have been previously foreclosed on.
There are limits on who can participate in the program, too. Buyers must be Alaska residents and live in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Or, they have to demonstrate they intend to immediately establish borough residency. Program buyers will only be allowed to have one active lien for a property through the program at a time.
The ordinance was unanimously approved by the eight assembly members present at the Tuesday meeting. Kenai representative Ryan Tunseth was one member to voice their support.
“We've heard lots of people testify about, you know, wanting to keep young families close to the, you know, these communities, to keep people here, to have affordable housing,” he said. “To me, you know, I think this just seems like an easier way to get in. Like an entry point for people that live here.”
The program is effective immediately, though the borough’s not yet announced a corresponding land sale.
