Homer port staff say any new Pier One Theatre lease on the Spit should be its last

Homer port staff say that if the City Council gives Pier One Theatre another five-year lease of the city's former warehouse on the Homer Spit, it should be the theater's last, and safety repairs should be finished before the theater uses the building.

The Port and Harbor Advisory Commission is scheduled to take up the theater's application at 5:30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Homer City Hall. The commission's recommendation goes to the council, which will decide. The theater's current lease ends April 30, 2027.

Pier One has occupied the building for about 30 years under a series of seasonal, one-year and five-year leases. A staff review notes the building has no water or sewer connection. The council awarded the theater a five-year lease with no renewal options in 2016 at $1 a year, city resolution records show.

The site is zoned Marine Industrial. Because the theater was there before the current zoning code and has stayed without interruption, the city Planning Department considers its use "legally nonconforming." Port staff want more space for large-vessel haul-outs in the area. The harbor master wrote that very few sites can handle that work and that publicly owned marine industrial land "should be dedicated to maritime port-related operations."

A 2026 virtual inspection by the Alaska Public Risk Alliance, the city's risk management consultant, found safety concerns. An Oct. 14 staff memo says the requested changes must be made before the building is occupied.

Pier One told the city "it will not seek another lease of these premises, whether or not its goals for a new building are achieved within the next five years." Its five-year strategic plan calls for using the building for storage and rehearsal while it raises money, looks for interim space, runs a capital campaign and builds a new facility. Staff found the plan does not yet appear to have financial backing.

Staff asked commissioners to weigh city code criteria that a lease of city property maximize the value of city assets and provide its highest and best use.