Kenai residents ask commission to review Aspen Creek conditional-use permit over neighborhood traffic and safety

Residents of the Ponderosa and Pine Avenue neighborhoods urged the City of Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 8 to review a modified conditional‑use permit for Aspen Creek Senior Living, saying the facility’s back access is being used routinely for deliveries, staff parking and other traffic and is endangering children and pedestrians in the narrow, residential streets.

Marshall Scott Moon, a homeowner on Ponderosa Street, told the commission he has lived in Kenai since 1996 and that Aspen Creek “has not been a very good neighbor and is in violation of the terms of its CUP.” He said the permit allowed an easement primarily for emergency access and vendor deliveries but that vehicle traffic “often far exceed[s] the speed limit” and now regularly includes semis with 40‑foot trailers.

Several other residents described similar observations. “There were, out of 21 vehicles that I saw go go down Ponderosa, 18 of them went to Aspen Creek,” said Elizabeth Kwame, who lives at 1607 Pine Avenue, describing an hour‑long count she conducted. Shelly Peterson, whose family has lived at the Pine and Ponderosa corner for nearly 30 years, said drivers frequently ignore the stop sign: “I have almost t‑boned people. They’re going fast.”

Speakers said they received little or unclear notice before Aspen Creek built the back entrance and that some neighbors were not informed that the easement would be constructed or kept. “We did a petition and over 90% of the neighbors did not agree with the way it's being handled right now,” Kit Hill said, summarizing neighborhood sentiment.

Other residents raised safety and first‑responder concerns. Mary Dubey asked whether the road configuration impeded emergency response and noted she did not see a fire hydrant during a site visit. A resident who lives near North Forest Drive said an ambulance that previously turned directly into the facility must now route down Pine and Ponderosa, adding travel distance and turns.

Planning staff told the commission the original notices mailed to residents described a modification to the conditional‑use permit but did not explicitly say the road construction was planned. The planning director said staff will review the file, verify how and to whom notice was mailed, coordinate with building‑permits and other departments, and bring a full report to the commission’s Feb. 12 meeting. “I’ll bring a full full report of what I found internally, and then we will have the, I guess, bigger discussion then,” the planning director said.

The commission placed the item for study and scheduled the report for the Feb. 12 meeting; staff gave residents contact information for interim questions. No formal action to change the permit was taken at the Jan. 8 meeting.

Residents asked for possible short‑term mitigations such as increased enforcement, temporary speed calming, or a neighborhood workshop with Aspen Creek representatives to negotiate usage of the side access that some speakers said could serve deliveries and staff parking without routing vehicles down Ponderosa.

The commission and staff noted that any formal change to a conditional‑use permit or zoning requirement would follow the city’s public‑notice procedures and, if appropriate, a public hearing. The planning director said staff will include the CUP documents and any later modifications in the Feb. 12 packet so commissioners can review them in advance.

A follow‑up discussion or formal hearing may be scheduled depending on staff findings and whether code amendments or enforcement actions are warranted.