Soldotna’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday got a look at the first draft of a proposed rezone of a broad swath of the city to prepare for the Soldotna Riverfront Redevelopment Project.
Soldotna Director of Economic Development and Planning Linda Mitchell characterized the document as a preliminary draft to be refined by the commission and through a forthcoming public engagement effort before later advancing for consideration by the Soldotna City Council.
The draft document describes a new Riverfront Mixed-Use District intended to “support the vision, goals, and policies of the Soldotna Downtown Riverfront Redevelopment Plan, and ensure future development is integrated, cohesive, context sensitive, and contributes to the overall district vision.” The district is meant to be a “sustainable” and “accessible” environment with public gathering spaces, housing options and methods of travel within the area, to the Kenai River, and to nearby commercial areas.
The district will include public art and safe routes for pedestrians and bicyclists, the document says.
Th district will allow for concert halls, dwellings, restaurants, bars, banks, hotels, museums, offices, parks, hair styling, retail storefronts and recreation facilities. The document says that conditional approval can also be given to gas stations — Mitchell cited the gas station that already exists within the proposed area — and day cares, parking lots, repair services, transmission towers and schools, among others.
Barred from the district are laundromats, thrift shops and storage units.
Most of the commission’s discussion on the draft centered on the requirements for parking lots and stipulations around building height.
The draft says that buildings can be 48 feet tall in most of the zone, restricted to 25 feet if they’re located within 200 feet of the river’s high water mark.
Commission Chair Kaitlin Vadla said she wondered whether “a full-on building” of any height closer to the river than 100 feet should be allowed. The group discussed how to approach building heights, saying they were supportive of the proposed buffer of “low-lying buildings” closer to the river.
Vadla suggested 250 feet as the buffer for shorter buildings, or another tier of height between 48 and 25 feet, acknowledging that the whole district only measures roughly 500 feet across.
Another member of the commission suggested requiring conditional use permits for any building that would be constructed taller than 25 feet, saying that if buildings in the area grow too large, Soldotna might lose the sense of the river from the highway. Mitchell said that conditional use permits aren’t “the appropriate place” for allowing additional height, but suggested different height requirements for different possible uses. A concert hall could be taller while an office building could be restricted to 25 feet.
Vadla said she was hoping not to see buildings that are just plain apartment buildings, rather seeking more movement in the area with commercial use on the bottom and possibly even top floor.
Parking requirements resemble those throughout Soldotna if they were cut in half, Mitchell said. Homes require only one parking space, hotels need one space for every two rooms, and most businesses need one space per 400 square feet. The draft also describes possibilities for on-street parking, off-site parking, and required screenings of plants, walls or wrought-iron fences between off-street parking lots and pathways in the district.
Vadla said she doesn’t want to see much of the “prime, riverfront downtown location” turned into parking. She said that some could go across the Sterling Highway or otherwise adjacent to the riverfront area.
Mitchell said she’ll make modifications to the draft based on commission feedback, and that it would also see public comment before moving beyond the commission. The commission meets next on Feb. 5 in the Soldotna City Council Chamber.
A full copy of the draft document can be found at soldotna.org. A recording of the commission meeting can be found at “City of Soldotna” on YouTube.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
