Kenai weighs spending city money to develop a city-owned parcel

Kenai is moving to turn a chunk of city-owned land into a development. On Wednesday, the city council votes on spending $54,219 to subdivide Dena'ina Point Estates — carving the parcel into lots — and on teaming up with a private company to plan and potentially build it out.

The partner would be Tidewater, LLC, under an agreement covering planning, replatting, and phased development of the site. What that development would actually be, though, is still an open question: the agenda doesn't say how many lots the project envisions or what would go on them. For now, the council is being asked to lay the groundwork — the planning and the money — not to approve a finished plan.

The subdivision cost would come from city funds — Kenai taxpayers footing the bill to ready the land — while residents would live with whatever traffic, infrastructure, and land-use changes the development eventually brings. Before it can chip in, the council has to formally find that the subdivision serves the city's interests.