Seldovia council presses staff to clarify zoning rewrite; focus on short-term rentals, storage and permit rules

Seldovia's city council on May 14 reviewed a draft ordinance that would rename the town's Commercial Business District the Central Business District and reorganize the zoning code to make it easier to use and to align it with the comprehensive plan.

Planning Commission Chair Sweet and city staff told the council the rewrite is the result of a two-year process that included a subcommittee of business owners, community members and staff. "This has ended up being a two-year process. We started this in 2023," Chair Sweet said.

Staff said the ordinance streamlines definitions (grouping many entries under a new "business general" category), alphabetizes the land-use table and inserts clearer cross-references. It also adds lodging sub-definitions (bed-and-breakfast, hostel, hotel/motel, long-term residential rental and short-term accommodation) tied to a 30-day threshold intended to align with borough rules.

Councilors focused on several draft items that need clearer language before introduction. One is the draft clause that would require an administrative permit for incidental or secondary uses that "exceed 50% of the building use." Multiple councilors said the numeric 50% test is ambiguous and could be interpreted as time, floor area or another metric. One councilor said, "The number doesn't mean anything to me," and urged staff to replace the percentage with a clearer standard. Alternatives discussed included tying review to whether a secondary use becomes the building's majority use, using square footage thresholds, or requiring a designated business entrance for buildings that serve as mixed-use.

Storage definitions drew sustained discussion. The draft's "storage mini facility" required "three or more areas or rooms available for lease or rent," which would have excluded smaller community storage arrangements such as kayak storage in an existing garage. Councilors and a business/property-owner speaker recommended removing the "three or more" requirement and permitting incidental storage facilities as a secondary use subject to administrative review.

Council members also asked staff to clean up dwelling-unit language in the land-use table. Some entries appeared to treat "dwelling-unit" counts (for example, structures with four or fewer units) as uses rather than descriptive building types. Members said the land-use table should make clear that residential uses are distinct from the district's primary commercial purpose and that residential occupancy will be treated as a secondary or permitted use only where the code allows.

The ordinance introduces broader use of administrative permits. Staff said the current long-term residential rental program carries a 10% cap (staff noted that it had not been reached), and councilors asked for a transparent way to show how many administrative-permit slots are issued and how many remain. Councilors suggested a public tally (for example, a simple online spreadsheet showing issued permits and the current percentage used) while debating whether individual parcel identifiers should be posted; staff said they will improve planning web pages and define renewal, transferability and waiting-list rules.

Councilors asked staff to run the revised draft through legal review, to revise unclear thresholds and dwelling-unit entries, and to present a cleaned version to the planning commission for its early-June meeting. The council agreed to a short follow-up work session if needed before formal introduction. No vote was taken.

What happens next: staff will redraft the disputed provisions, consult legal as appropriate, place the revised ordinance before the planning commission in early June for review, and return the revised draft to council for final consideration.