“Now we have to turn it all into construction documents,” said Randy Sauer, an architect with Mulvanny G2 of Portland, Ore., the firm that designed the Homer store.
Fred Meyer said it plans to break ground in May 2007.
Under Homer’s large retail and wholesale building codes, Fred Meyer is required to get a conditional use permit before building a planned 66,000-square-foot grocery and general merchandise store near the northeast corner of Main Street and the Sterling Highway on land owned by Cook Inlet Regional Inc. Approval required a minimum five votes of the seven-member commission.
Commissioners Rick Foster, Bruce Hess, Ray Kranich, Sharon Minsch and Bryan Zak voted yes to approve. Commissioners Lane Chesley and Fred Pfeil had excused absences and did not attend.
The commission had 30 days starting June 14 to either approve or reject the application. If it did not act, the application would have been automatically approved. Fred Meyer agreed to extend the deadline to midnight Aug. 3.
At a July 26 special meeting, the commission voted to re-open the public hearing at the Aug. 2 regular meeting. No one spoke at a first public hearing held June 14, when the commission began considering Fred Meyer’s application. Most of the 26 people who spoke at the Wednesday night hearing recommended the planning commission reject the conditional use permit application.
“I am not sure it is even possible for the planning commission through conditions to bring this into compliance,” said Valerie Connor, a former commissioner.
“Fred Meyer needs to come back to this town and give us a small town feel,” said Elise Wolfe, who recently returned to Homer after being away 25 years.
“Homer is at a crossroads,” said Jeanne Parker. “We have the advantage of saying ‘play by our rules if you want to come to our town.’”
“The issues here are not to be taken lightly,” said Sue Post, who worked on the citizen committee that helped develop the large retail and wholesale store regulations Fred Meyer had to comply with. “There’s no reason Fred Meyer should not be held responsible to follow Homer’s city codes, or to follow the Town Center plan or the comprehensive plan.”
Others urged the commission to approve the permit.
“I have all the confidence in the world between what you’re requiring and the city council that we’ll solve the problems,” said George Meeker.
“I support the hell out of progress,” said Dan Hennick. “I would hope the heck you vote for them.”
After the public hearing, the commission looked at the application line by line for almost four hours before making its decision. At previous meetings, the commission had approved the Homer Planning Department staff report. At last night’s meeting, it reaffirmed or modified eight findings, including a finding that Fred Meyer’s permit conformed to the city of Homer Community Design Manual — the document that establishes criteria like landscaping, parking and building design.
Fred Meyer representatives attending the meeting were given a chance to respond to some of the conditions. At one point, Tom Gibbons, director of real estate for Fred Meyer, expressed concerns the conditions might be too much.
“We have a budget that we’re accountable for,” he said. “When we get all these conditions, it is conceivable this project could be too expensive to build.”
Many of the conditions imposed on Fred Meyer had to do with aesthetic issues, like landscaping, building materials, retaining walls and fencing. The commission rejected some plans, like the use of chain link fencing along retaining walls.
Commissioner Foster tried to get Fred Meyer to retain some native vegetation. The store plans to clear cut all the 220 trees on its site and replace them with 285 new trees. Foster tried to require that Fred Meyer save at least 22 trees. That motion failed 4-1. Another motion that Fred Meyer “retain native vegetation to the best extent to meet the spirit of the Community Design Manual” also failed. The commission did require public notice before clear cutting so people could salvage trees.
Foster also voted against a finding that “the proposed use is in harmony with the community plan and with surrounding land use,” but the rest of the commissioners accepted that finding.
Although the conditional use permit is critical to moving the project along, Fred Meyer still has other permits to acquire. In its purchase agreement with CIRI, Fred Meyer will buy the lot it is building on. Access streets from the Sterling Highway and Main Street will be built, a process that requires subdivision platting approval from the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Connecting those streets to state roads also requires approval from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The planning commission set as a condition that Fred Meyer get DOT & PF approval for a traffic mitigation plan. Fred Meyer also may need wetland permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. One condition of its application is that Fred Meyer meet all applicable local, state and federal requirements.
A motion to reconsider the conditional permit application failed at the end of meeting.
“This has been a long and drawn out process,” said Hess. “I hope the community realizes the gains we’ve won.”
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
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