Kenai commission weighs ending newspaper publication of land notices

Kenai's Planning and Zoning Commission will decide Wednesday whether to back an ordinance that would take the city's land-use notices out of the newspaper.

The change would cover notices for zoning hearings, changes to subdivision rules, home occupation permits, planning commission applications, and the leasing and sale of city and airport land.

Instead of a legal ad, those notices would go on a single page of the city's website and be posted in at least three public places, including the bulletin board at City Hall. The webpage doesn't exist yet. The ordinance says the city "can develop and implement" one.

Other notice rules wouldn't change. Owners within 300 feet of a property up for a zoning hearing would still get notice in the mail, and signs would still go up where code requires them. Notice deadlines stay the same.

The city makes its case in a Sept. 10 memo from Planning Director Kevin Buettner. Notices on a city webpage would be free to read and gathered in one place, he wrote, and the city wouldn't have to wait on a newspaper's publishing schedule. It would also save money on publication requirements that "have nearly doubled in the past two years."

Buettner raised the issue with the commission in May. Under current code, he said, waiting on newspaper publication can delay public hearings by nearly three weeks, and legal notices are hard for the public to access because of subscriptions and paywalls, according to the meeting's minutes.

The ordinance itself says reduced publication and distribution of local newspapers has "significantly reduced their effectiveness" for public notice.

It also leaves some loose ends. Two land-lease sections would still give competing applicants 30 days "from the date of publication," and another still requires notice to be published seven days before an application deadline. Neither says what counts as publication once the newspaper is gone.

The ordinance also states that the commission "held a public hearing on October 14, 2026." But Wednesday's agenda lists the item as an action item under new business, not a public hearing.

Kenai isn't the only Alaska government rethinking newspaper notices. This summer, Cordova began posting tax-foreclosure notices on walls around town after its newspaper stopped printing. A draft state rule would end the requirement that liquor license applicants buy newspaper ads.

The City Council introduced the ordinance Oct. 7 and holds its public hearing Oct. 21. If it passes, the change takes effect Nov. 20.