Kenai planners weigh gravel pit dug below the water table off Beaver Loop Road

The Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission will hold public hearings Tuesday, Nov. 17, on a permit and a variance that would let River Resources LLC dig gravel below the water table on a 28.63-acre city parcel off Beaver Loop Road. The variance would shrink required buffers, growing the usable pit area 53%, from 14.65 acres to 22.43 acres.

City code normally keeps excavation 200 feet from public rights-of-way and 150 feet from other property lines. The variance would cut buffers to 50 feet on the north, east and west sides and 100 feet on the south.

The application says the pit would run as needed for about 20 years, with gravel and asphalt plants moved in and out as work requires. Trucks would reach Beaver Loop Road through the material site to the south, which River Resources members own and operate.

Test holes found groundwater 10 to 11 feet below the surface. Ponds would form where the company digs below it, and the plan envisions a lake with reclaimed shorelines and spots for houses or RV parking around it. The company plans berms, not fencing, to keep people and animals out of the water.

The city conditionally sold River Resources the land in its 2026 Land Sale Auction. That sale becomes final only if the permit is granted.

Land management analyst Brandon McElrea recommended approval. He reported the lot borders other material sites to the east and south and city and state wetlands to the north, with no residential properties in the immediate area, and that a tree line would screen the pit. Proposed conditions set 7 am to 7 pm hours, allowing project-specific work outside them as needed, bar Jake brakes and require a yearly activity report.

The request was first scheduled for Oct. 14. That day the commission postponed the permit indefinitely and dismissed the variance after the applicant did not attend, meeting minutes show. Reading staff findings at that meeting, Planning Director Kevin Buettner said, "The city and its residents will benefit from the additional local gravel resources from this location."

No public comment had arrived by the time of the staff report. Hearings begin at 7 pm in the Kenai City Council Chambers. Any decision carries a 15-day appeal period.