The City of Kenai is putting new limits on unofficial campgrounds ahead of dipnetting season. Kenai City Council members last week tweaked city code to restrict tent camping within city limits.
Under the new rules, property owners are limited to two tents per piece of property. Three or more tents will constitute a campground, which are prohibited in a third of city zones. Campgrounds require a conditional use permit in the other 12 zones.
Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank says the changes are rooted in complaints from city property owners. Last year, the city heard from one resident who complained about how an adjacent property was being used during dipnet season.
“It's a vacant lot within the subdivision in the neighborhood that somebody had purchased, and they brought in sanitary facilities, they brought in dumpsters, they brought in some port-a-potties, but they had a number of tents that were housing people that were participating in the fishery,” he said.
After realizing the city didn’t have any way of restricting that type of congregate camp, the council asked the city’s planning and zoning commissioners to come up with a solution.
The council initially considered creating an entirely new section of city code specific to tent camping. But some council members were concerned about enacting inconsistent policies for tents and other types of temporary housing, like RVs.
The new campground rules take effect July 3. That’s one week before the city’s three-week personal use dipnet fishery opens. The popular 24-hour summer fishing opportunity draws fishermen from around the state to Kenai each year. The city provides things like dumpsters and restrooms to support the state-regulated fishery.
