Kodiak developer seeks conservation zoning for three more Cliff Point tracts

The Kodiak Island Borough Assembly will decide Nov. 5 whether to rezone three more Cliff Point oceanfront tracts from rural residential to conservation, after approving the same change in August for a larger group of lots owned by the same company.

Oceanfront Kodiak LLC asked for both. Conservation zoning requires lots of at least 5 acres, up from 2 acres under the current zoning. "The current zoning and 2-acre lot size limit market appeal and prevent us from selling or developing the property," the company wrote in its application. Larger lots, it wrote, would create "more attractive and flexible development options for would-be buyers and outside investors."

The borough's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-0 on Sept. 16 to recommend approval, with two members absent. It found the tracts are in an area the borough's comprehensive plan maps for conservation, without public water or sewer and served by a private road. Community Development Director Chris French recommends adoption, and the Assembly introduced the ordinance unanimously Oct. 15. It would take effect as soon as it's approved.

The first rezone passed the Assembly 7-0 on Aug. 20. It drew an objection from the federal wildlife refuge next door, which said the zoning change itself posed no direct threat but warned that development on the reconfigured lots could harm submerged refuge lands offshore. The borough mailed notice of this hearing to 25 recipients, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Cliff Point Estates Homeowners Association.

In 2019, Oceanfront Kodiak sought the opposite change, from conservation to rural residential, for Cliff Point parcels, a borough record shows.

Conservation zoning also brings a borough requirement for a 50-foot buffer along natural streams. "There's a state requirement for a 50-foot buffer from a natural stream. And also the borough has it, but only in the conservation district that I know of," French told the commission in July, during the first case.