Kenai commission weighs letting a gravel operation dig into required setbacks

The Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission will hold public hearings Wednesday, Oct. 14, on whether to let a gravel operation expand into the buffer zones city rules require around extraction sites.

Kenai requires extraction to stay at least 150 feet from property lines and 200 feet from roads. The commission will consider a conditional use permit for gravel extraction on one parcel and a related variance that would let the operator dig into those setbacks to expand. The agenda does not say how far into the setbacks the operator would dig.

Under city code, a variance is meant to give relief when strict enforcement would deprive a property owner of reasonable use of the land. Before granting one, the commission must find, among other things, that the land has special conditions not shared by other property in the same zone and that the variance is the minimum needed for reasonable use.

The commission approved a similar setback variance earlier this year for extraction at 2817 Beaver Loop Road. That decision was appealed to the city's Board of Adjustment. A separate resolution on Wednesday's agenda would approve withdrawal of that variance application.