The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly approved an ordinance on Feb. 4, authorizing the potential acquisition of 80 acres of land in the Blueberry Hill area of Seward.
Ordinance 2024-19-24 also authorizes a memorandum of agreement for the completion of a road access feasibility study, the results of which will determine whether the borough moves forward on the land purchase or not. The cost of the study is split between the borough and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.
An amendment, which passed unanimously, was also introduced by assembly member Tyson Cox to amend Section 4 of the ordinance, which previously conditioned the land purchase upon the “satisfactory completion” of the study and upon final review and approval of the study’s findings by Borough Mayor Peter Micciche.
The amendment now makes it a condition that the land purchase may move forward if the satisfactory completion of the study confirms the feasibility of constructing roadway access that can meet Road Service Area standards. Additionally, the completed study will be provided to the full assembly prior to final approval by the mayor.
Cox also noted that reviewing the study results prior to mayoral approval will give the assembly time to ask questions, make changes or provide feedback to the mayor including nonagreement with finalizing the land purchase.
Micciche said he welcomed the amendment.
“I have no intention of supporting a purchase if the feasibility study were to come back and say it’s unbuildable,” he said. “I welcome the interaction with the assembly. If we weren’t happy with moving forward together, we wouldn’t be moving forward.”
Assembly member Ryan Tunseth noted during the meeting that the land purchase and establishment of a road would possibly improve evacuation routes and secure future land access for the City of Seward.
“That’s high ground out of the flood areas and tsunami evacuation areas,” he said.
Comments given during the public hearing on Ordinance 2024-19-24 were mixed.
Soldotna Realtor Ed Oberts expressed frustration with the proposed land purchase and encouraged the assembly to vote the ordinance down.
“I am against the borough spending money on land. You should be selling land, not buying land,” he said. “The original intent of land … selections was to help offset the cost of providing government services to the citizens of the area, not to go buy some piece of property, to spend money that you don’t even have to develop it.”
Tunseth later refuted the idea that the borough hasn’t been selling land during assembly discussion of the ordinance following the public hearing.
“It seems to me like we’re being fairly responsible in managing this amount of money to purchase more strategic pieces of property, while letting the other pieces of property that may not be as strategic, and in doing that, allowing us the potential to increase that amount of money in the Land Trust Fund significantly,” he said.
Kat Sorensen, Seward city manager, reiterated her support of the ordinance originally expressed in a Jan. 16 letter to the assembly and called the proposed land purchase “a strategic investment in the future growth and development of both Seward and the Kenai Peninsula.”
“In nearly every conversation I’ve had with those leaving our community over the past few years, the lack of available housing is a key factor in their decision,” she said during the public hearing.
According to Sorensen, Seward has been collaborating with the borough to identify solutions to the housing shortage outside of city limits, of which she said Blueberry Hill was a “prime example.”
“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. “Ensuring adequate access to this land will create new possibilities for responsible growth within our borough and community.”
Ordinance 2024-19-24 was passed by the assembly in an 8-1 vote, with Ecklund voting against.
In her closing comments at the end of the meeting, Ecklund said that she “voted with her constituents” on the ordinance.
“I would prefer another access point that didn’t require a $1.2 million purchase,” she said. “Yes, we need some properties open … So I hope that the feasibility study proves that there is access that isn’t going to cost us another $1.2 million to build a road to get to the property we want to sell.”
Micciche praised the borough’s land management division and the work they’ve done to date on the Blueberry Hill proposal.
“The questions you ask are the process that we go through. I put them through a grind when we’re considering things,” he said. “Land resources in the borough have not been well managed in the past. They’re going to be well managed as long as I’m here, and I hope it creates a situation where the development is in the future.”
Find the Feb. 4 meeting recording and Ordinance 2024-19-24 in full at kpb.legistar.com.
Matt Tunseth speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Cindy Ecklund speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
