Kenai limits tent camping to 2 tents per property, defines 3+ as campground

Kenai City Council amended a tent-camping ordinance Wednesday to allow two tents indefinitely on private property with sanitary facilities, while defining three or more tents as a campground requiring conditional use in most zones.

The change means backyard or private-lot tenting can continue with up to two tents, while larger setups now trigger conditional-use review. The city has periodically received complaints from residents in the Beaver Loop neighborhood about camping on private property associated with dipnet activity, according to a staff memo.

The council removed proposed time limits after debate over inconsistency with the city's 30-day RV camping allowance. The original ordinance would have limited tents to three consecutive or five total days in a 30-day period.

City Manager Terry Eubank said the city received complaints last year about a vacant lot in a subdivision where someone had set up multiple tents, porta-potties, and dumpsters during the personal-use fishery. "They had brought in sanitary facilities, they brought in dumpsters, they brought in some porta potties, but they had a number of tents that were housing people that were participating in the fishery," Eubank said.

Council Member Brian Winger raised concerns about the disparity between tent and RV rules. "The majority of this is mirrored after the code that deals with recreational vehicles," Eubank said, noting RVs are allowed for 30 days while the original tent proposal was three consecutive or five total days.

Winger noted the inconsistency could affect families. "If a family does put a tent in their front yard for their kids to camp in off and on all summer, as my kids did, or as my son completed his camping nights to earn his Eagle Scout in the backyard, that was seven nights," Winger said.

The council voted to remove the time limits and instead define a campground as three or more tents, making it a conditional use in most zones. Two tents remain allowed indefinitely with sanitary facilities.

The ordinance passed 5-0 as amended.