In addition to moving the entire parking code from Title 7 to Title 21, the new regulations reduce required parking spaces for businesses by 10 to 30 percent, reduce the length of a standard parking space from 67 to 62 feet, create a place in city code for a future Town Center area, set new off-site parking rules for the Homer Spit and increase the required distance from a parking area to a business from 300 to 1,500 feet.

Council member Beth Wythe pushed for the 1,500-foot limit.

"1,500 feet is nothing if you really want to encourage walkability," she said. "If we're going to say we're a walkable community then let's be a walkable community."

The new parking regulations also set minimum guidelines for the number of spaces different types of business must have, mandating one space per room for hotels, one space per three indoor seats for restaurants, one space per five seats for churches and one space per 300 square feet of floor area for retail stores.

Homer resident Kevin Hogan, testifying before the council, pushed for the creation of special parking spaces for compact vehicles.

"It would be nice to see the option of having a space for them. Then we're encouraging smaller vehicles and a better use of the space," he said.

The council did not adopt Hogan's suggestion.

The new regulations, said city planner Rick Abboud, put the parking code into "plain and simple language" and will make it easier for the council and city staff to work with the document in the future.

Also at their Monday meeting, the council:

- Discussed, at their Committee of the Whole meeting, what to do with a pair of leftover legislative grants, worth a total of $4.5 million, originally intended to construct a new City Hall building and help the Kachemak Bay Campus of the Kenai Peninsula College-University of Alaska Anchorage expand into the old city hall location. Rejection from Homer voters last year of an $8 million bond proposal to facilitate both projects has left the grants in limbo.

Bob Moore, a member of KBC's community advisory board, testified before the council that the college would still like to use some of the grant money to expand its campus.

"It seems appropriate ... to try to get these monies back and at least accomplish a portion of what was intended," said Moore. "We could, at this point, proceed on with your help."

Despite a message from Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, relayed by City Manager Walt Wrede, expressing urgency in re-appropriating the funding toward KBC expansion, the council put off a final decision until plans for the expansion, including cost estimates, become more concrete.

"I have some concerns about re-appropriating the money," said council member Francie Roberts. "Maybe we could do a project that would benefit our taxpayers instead."

- Received a presentation from Dennis Wheeler, advisory section manager for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, on the nature of utility rate changes like the increase Homer Electric Association enacted on Jan 1. The RCA is in place, said Wheeler, to ensure that monopolies like HEA do not abuse their power and to make sure the rates they charge are "fair and reasonable."

- Accepted Lampang, Thailand as Homer's third Sister City.

- Postponed until April 13 approval for construction of a nine-hole disc golf course at Jack Gist Park. Unanswered questions, such as what fees, if any, will be charged at the course and issues surrounding insurance liability, need to be addressed before the project is approved, said Roberts.

- Received from Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly member Bill Smith an invitation to the "Milli and Billy Show," a presentation of facts about the borough's property tax assessment process from Smith and borough assembly member Milli Martin, to be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon in the Cowles Council Chambers at city hall.

- Received a letter from acting Attorney General Richard Svobodny explaining that, due to "limited prosecutorial resources," the state Department of Law will not be able to provide a District Attorney to Homer.

"This is unfortunate," said council member Barbara Howard. "I can't even get them to return my phone calls or e-mails for a probation officer or a district attorney."

- Awarded a $10,000 contract to Brad Hughes for construction of a sign for the Homer Public Library. The sign, as designed by Hughes, will feature sandhill cranes against a backdrop of mountains and will be made with concrete and found items from local beaches.

- Awarded a $65,000 contract to USKH of Anchorage to complete planning for the Spit Comprehensive Plan update.

Aaron Selbig can be reached at aaronselbig.@homernews.com.