The Kenai City Council passed an ordinance that would increase estimated revenues and appropriations in the General Fund – Land Administration Department to provide funding for a Kenai Waterfront Revitalization Feasibility Study. The City of Kenai 2030 Comprehensive Plan states that the City should develop land use strategies to implement a forward-looking approach to community growth and development.
The Comprehensive Plan specifically identifies the waterfront adjacent to Bridge Access Road beginning at Millennium Square to the City Dock as an area where revitalization strategies should be explored.
City Manager, Paul Ostrander:
“The intent of this feasibility study is to determine what the city can do in a multitude of ways to incentivize the type of development that the community wants in this area. That can take several forms, I think. We need to look at the zoning of the area to determine whether or not the zoning is appropriate for the type of development that the community wants. Are there regulations in place that potentially should be changed to incentivize that type of development. The third part is to really look at whether or not the city should look at some type of public private partnership where the city can participate in some manner through the extension of infrastructure or something like that to incentivize that type of development. The reason why we focused on this area, which includes the ten city properties plus the private properties, the primary reason is because the plan specifically indicated that that’s an area that the city should look at to see if there are revitalization strategies that we should pursue.”
When talking about a Request For Proposal, Ostrander said:
“It’ll be a competitive RFP and we don’t restrict firms regardless of their location from bidding on the project. If I were to speculate, I would say that the contract would be issued to a firm from the state of Alaska, whether or not it would be on the Peninsula or from outside of the Peninsula, I can’t tell you, but it is a competitive process and we don’t restrict who can bid on these RFPs.”
The Ordinance would appropriate $95,000 from the City’s General Fund to pay for the Study, which includes $20,000 in contingency due to the nature of the Study and the possibility that the scope of work may change as the project unfolds.
The draft scope of work for the feasibility study will be focus on the following:
- Evaluate market conditions and identify opportunities for potential revitalization of the area
- Review and recommend any necessary changes to existing plans, zoning, and/or regulations
- Engage community and develop vision, core concepts, and priorities
- Assess infrastructure needs to support redevelopment
- Identify economic investments and incentives that encourage development
- Prepare examples of conceptual plans for potential site redevelopment alternatives
- Prepare financial analysis to evaluate the feasibility of redevelopment concepts
Ordinance No. 3237-2021 passed the Kenai City Council.