More than 70 community members attended the comprehensive plan open house at the Islands and Oceans Visitor Center last Thursday, March 28. During the two-hour event, residents of the greater Homer area shared their insights and hopes for the future and engaged in one-on-one facetime with project leaders, including representatives from Agnew::Beck and the City of Homer.

Shelly Wade, Agnew::Beck project consultant, started the night with a brief overview of what the comp plan update entails and what the next steps will be.

“This is an opportunity to preserve the things you value most in your community, and create a clear road map for the future,” she said.

In addition to helping shape the path of Homer’s future and development over the next 20 years, the comp plan can also be a tool to help the city secure funding for potential projects, Wade said.

“This is really a clear and a cool mechanism for communicating your priorities internally among the community, but also sending a clear message to your partners,” she said.

The comprehensive plan aims to “guide decisions about land use, housing, public services and infrastructure, transportation, economic development, health and wellness, sustainability, resilience and climate change, quality of life, fiscal health and more,” the project website states.

“The easiest way to think about this is it sort of hits the 30,000-foot level. It’s those big picture goals and your vision in those categories. This is phase one,” Wade said. “We’re just getting started. So tonight, you’ll see a lot of big questions that we have for you, and we’ll have more specific questions for you as the process moves forward.”

In the visitor center auditorium, project leaders laid out three tables with maps, comment sheets and large sheets of paper for attendees to provide written feedback. One table focused on future land use goals, asking community members to share where they would like to see various types of development, such as housing, commercial use or industrial use, or where they would like to preserve land or create green spaces.

A second table asked questions about Homer’s future economic development and appetite for growth in specific sectors including marine trades, the visitor and service industry, active retirement community, health care and education, and government and nonprofits. Attendees were asked to mark in each category whether they would like to see no growth, slow growth or moderate growth.

The third table asked community members what they valued most about living in Homer, what is most challenging about living in Homer, and what could improve the quality of life in Homer.

In addition to the feedback received from the public, city departments and local organizations, Agnew::Beck is also using multiple plans, reports and studies that provide information about Homer to best understand what emerges as the “big themes” to focus on over the course of the project. Project leaders are also referencing the 2018 comp plan, using it to help build the next one.

“We’re using the 2018 comp plan to see what have you accomplished since 2018 and what we might expect or plan for in the next 20 years,” Wade said.

Over the course of their community visit last week, the Agnew::Beck team met with the Homer City Council and Planning Commission in a joint work session on Tuesday, with the Port and Harbor Advisory Commission on Wednesday, with the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Friday morning, and with multiple other stakeholders and local organizations throughout the week.

The recordings for the meetings with city departments are available on the City of Homer website.

Steering committee chair Kathy Carssow said that she was “really pleased” with the turnout at Thursday’s open house.

Wade and fellow Agnew::Beck associate Meg Friedenauer echoed Carssow. Wade said she thought the event was “a success in terms of turnout and volume of input.”

Wade and Friedenauer also noted the low number of youth attending the open house, and the volume of feedback urging them to conduct Homer youth-specific outreach.

Friedenauer said that Agnew::Beck has already reached out to Kachemak Bay Campus and to the Homer High School student council. They are also working with the steering committee to establish ways to best connect with young families in the greater Homer area.

Follow the project and get updates at homercompplanupdate.com/. Community members are also invited to submit online comments or contact Wade or Homer city planner Ryan Foster to provide comments and feedback.

Agnew::Beck project consultant Shelly Wade explains the public feedback process at the Comprehensive Plan Open House on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center auditorium in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Attendees of the Comprehensive Plan Open House give feedback on future land use in Homer on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center auditorium in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Attendees of the Comprehensive Plan Open House note where they want to see future growth in Homer’s economy on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center auditorium in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Attendees of the Comprehensive Plan Open House share feedback about values and challenges of living in Homer on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center auditorium in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)