Although a local theater troupe is ready to start construction on a new performing arts center in Kenai, there are a number of steps left in the process.
Kenai City Manager Rick Koch said he realizes the Kenai Performers are excited to get started but the land donation process could take 60 days or more before an option is put before the Kenai City Council.
Koch: I went to council and said this is this proposal that we’ve received from Kenai Performers, this is what they want to do, do you want me to explore this? This is a policy decision this isn’t one of the technical things that I do, and they said yes we want you to explore it. So we went and looked a few different peices of property, here’s a few different alternatives, I recommend this one, this is the one the Kenai Performers like and the council said yeah that looks OK to us.”
The two acre parcel is currently zoned as rural residential and would need to be rezoned by the city to light or limited commercial, according to Koch, which could add another month or so to the process.
He said he is working on the guidelines of the donation but recently got a quote on the survey of the two acres and will be sharing that with the Kenai Performers.
Previously when the idea was brought before the council, questions arose as to what kind of model the council would be setting by donating land to organizations.