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Planning commission approves River Center bank stabilization permit after public questions about access and costs
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Summary
The Planning Commission granted a conditional use permit to the Kenai Peninsula Borough River Center for bank stabilization, elevated platforms and a wooden-slat protective fence within the Kenai River 50-foot setback; a public commenter questioned borough ownership, access and project costs; staff said the permit authorizes work in the setback, not contracting or funding.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission on Feb. 23 approved a conditional use permit allowing bank stabilization work, replacement of elevated light-penetrating platforms, revegetation and installation of a wooden-slat protective fence within the 50-foot Kenai River habitat protection setback at the River Center property (514 Funny River Road). Morgan Aldridge, a planner with the River Center, told the commission the work responds to increasing foot traffic that has removed vegetation and destroyed earlier stabilization efforts and that the project meets borough standards.
The permit covers removal of an existing elevated platform and installation of a new platform system, revegetation using coir logs, brush layers and vegetative mat, and a toe revetment using cabled spruce trees. Aldridge said the work is intended to create multiple controlled access points to the river and reduce the trampling that creates mud pits along the bank. He also told commissioners that the City of Soldotna issued a Kenai River Overlay (KROD) staff permit for the project the same day, and that the staff packet did not include that permit because it arrived shortly before the meeting.
Nicholas Connor, a member of the public, questioned the project during public comment, saying he was unclear why the borough owned the property and asking what alternatives and cost estimates had been considered. "I don't understand why this is even a borough property," Connor said, and asked whether the borough had explored transferring the land to the state or other options. Aldridge and staff responded that the planning commission's role is to permit work within the 50-foot setback; decisions about contracting or project funding occur through the borough's procurement and assembly processes. The commission reaffirmed that the permit does not authorize expenditures or construction contracts.
Samantha Lopez, manager of the River Center, described the proposed fence as a low-visual-impact wooden-slat style similar to a snow fence and said colleagues at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had reported success with the approach at a high-traffic site in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. "We're trying to do something a little better than the orange fencing because it just gets knocked down," Lopez said, adding the design is intended to be less intrusive than cedar or chain-link and more durable than plastic fence.
Commissioners asked staff to keep the work as minimal as practicable within the 50-foot setback and noted the project could serve as a case study for low-impact protections at other high-traffic river sites. After discussion the commission adopted Planning Commission Resolution 2026-15, granting the conditional use permit subject to the conditions in the staff report.
The permit record in the staff packet notes public notice was sent to six property owners within 300 feet and no written comments were received; staff reported the project meets the five general standards in KPB 21.18.081. Next steps include any procurement or design work the borough undertakes to implement the project and continued coordination with the City of Soldotna and state resource agencies.
