Seward planners approve Swan Nest Inn expansion to 12-room hotel

The Seward Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday to let the Swan Nest Inn at 504 Adams St. grow from five guest rooms to 12. The vote grants applicant Thomas Swan a conditional use permit to run the building as a hotel in the central business zoning district.

City Planner Courtney Bringhurst said the inn, which shares its building with the Seward Bike Shop, now runs five nightly rentals under a short-term lodging permit. The planned renovation "will increase the number of nightly rental rooms from 5 to 12, which then puts it into that hotel category, which requires a conditional use permit," Bringhurst said.

Conditions require exterior lights to point downward, a watertight, animal-resistant waste container and compliance with all fire and life safety codes. The commission has required half an off-street parking space per room on recent hotel permits, Bringhurst said, or six spaces for 12 rooms. The site plan shows about eight, with the extra two covering overflow parking and an on-site manager apartment.

Chair Sullivan asked about a lift shown in the plans. Swan said it would be an elevator outside the building, under a roof. Sullivan said elevators are required, "but lifts, the state was no longer certifying." Swan said guests need a way between floors because food service is upstairs and rooms are downstairs. "I have to have something to get people up," he said. Swan said the lift question would be handled with the building department.

No one from the public spoke.

At its Oct. 20 meeting, the commission approved a fourplex on Phoenix Road with parking, bear-resistant trash and landscaping conditions.

Also Tuesday, the commission voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council and Kenai Peninsula Borough approve a preliminary plat drawing the Jesse Lee Cemetery as its own lot within city cemetery property. Bringhurst said the council voted April 13 to let the city manager negotiate conveying that land to the Qutekcak Native Tribe, and the cemetery must be a separate parcel first. Whether money changes hands will be decided when the council negotiates, she said.