The Kenai City Council held a work session on Wednesday night to discuss Kenai Waterfront Revitalization and Economic Development Incentives. Programs were provided to the City Council from Administration to strengthen the economic vitality of the city and to serve the citizens with responsible management. Under the City of Kenai Imagine Kenai 2030 Comprehensive Plan, the city identified the waterfront adjacent to Bridge Access Road beginning at Millennium Square to the City dock as an area for revitalization.
City Manager Paul Ostrander said:
“What we wanted to discuss with the community and the council was the concept of a feasibility study looking at the Kenai Waterfront. It’s about 160 acres of total property there. It’s a mix of both privately and publicly owned properties. It’s been determined by the city in the past that this is an area that is underutilized right now. The feasibility report would be trying to figure out the community vision for what that area should look like. Last night really kicked that off. We got a lot of input from the community on how they see this area being developed and the council also had ideas about their vision for that area. The feasibility report is really to try to identify the vision of the community for that area. Also, the second part of that is what can the city do to help encourage that type of development. Are there zoning changes that are necessary to be made? Are there regulations that should be changed? Is there a public-private partnership that would benefit the redevelopment of this area? Again, this is really kicking off that process.”
Ostrander said a majority of the ideas related to a multi-use area, including a combination of recreation meeting spaces, residential, restaurants and retail. He spoke on people coming down to the peninsula and turning right onto Bridge Access Road seeing the City of Kenai as a destination for people to come to.
Ostrander said:
“We’re going to be working on the scope of work for the feasibility report and we are going to be introducing an ordinance for council’s consideration at the next meeting, so August 18th meeting, to fund the feasibility study, which is the first step in this process.”
The general consensus, from the meeting, was that people are excited about the possibilities of this area and what the Kenai’s Waterfront could turn into. Ostrander stated that this is a transformative opportunity for economic development and community enhancement for the city.
Kenai Work Session Meeting
