1) OPEN SPACE & ATTAINABLE HOUSING IN HOMER

KBCS is working hard to see that Homer City Code begins to better reflect the community values indicated in public surveys, which show that Homer’s top priorities include:

1. Attainable Housing
2. Preserve open public spaces within the city from development
3. Create a livable, walkable, vibrant downtown
4. Increase access to recreational opportunities for visitors and residents
5. Prepare for and address the effects of climate change on Homer

Homer does not currently have tools to meet these goals, and we need to create some. That’s going to take all of us, and KBCS has been helping lay the groundwork for that community effort, with the Stormwater Workgroup and Homer Housing Policy Workgroup, where we are collaborating with other organizations and citizens to figure out the kinds of policies that could meaningfully tackle these important issues, starting in 2025.

Here’s some examples of items we’ve been looking at:

• Adopt GIS mapping layers of priority green spaces like wetlands, unstable bluffs, forests, and creeks into code in order to (a) protect some lands from some kinds of development (b) increase recreational access and (c) prepare for and mitigate against the climate hazards of drought, landslides and floods. These maps exist for the most part, they just aren't being used!
• In order to conserve land, it is necessary to buy it, and to buy, you need money. A City Stormwater Utility Program represents the industry-standard for an equitable, stable, source of funding to protect high value lands.
• Buffers around creeks are the best way to slow the flow of waters that contribute to the hazards of flooding, erosion and landslides—all of which are exacerbated by the warming climate and increased development.
• Attainable housing is the bedrock of sustainable economies, community, family, and individual well-being. Many of the tools that can alleviate the situation would require funding, and so we are advocating the creation of a borough-wide tourism tax and the use of dollars to support incentives for attainable housing.

Again, email if you are interested in getting in on the ground-floor of these conversations and stay tuned for public meetings in 2025.

2) K-BAY SEA DUCKS

We have submitted a proposal to the Board of Game for a new regulation that would require reporting sea duck harvest in the State of Alaska. The proposal, which will be considered in March 2025, would provide essential and cheap data to monitor changes in harvest and allow for regional bag limit reductions if harvest goes up dramatically.

* Support the Sea Duck proposal here *  

This is a statewide proposal with special importance for K-Bay Sea Duck populations, since K-Bay is one of the easiest places to access sea ducks in the state. It is supported by three consecutive years of Kachemak Bay Community Science Sea Duck Surveys—a local annual effort of 10 boats and over 30 people, as well as the Homer Fish and Game Advisory Committee.  

Please take a minute to sign on to show your support and share.

Harvest reporting isn’t typically required for small game, because, in general, these species evolved to recover quickly from big drops in population. But sea ducks do not recover quickly, which means there are long-term negative effects of over-harvest. According to the Sea Duck Joint Venture — a project in partnership with US Fish and Wildlife, the Pacific Flyway Council, USGS, and Ducks Unlimited Canada, and others – sea duck populations are slow to recover for the following reasons:

• Sea ducks are known to have a remarkable degree of site fidelity–around 5 miles or so–which means that if an area’s population is depressed, birds from other areas will not boost recovery.
• In general, sea ducks do not breed until they are 2 or 3 or so years old.  
• They lay only one clutch of eggs per year, in contrast with the 2 or 3 for many dabbling ducks.
• They have significantly lower chick survival rates than other ducks.

Sea duck populations across the United States have fallen 30% since 1970, and they remain in decline, according to the U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s “2022 State of Birds Report”. On the bright side, the report notes that efforts at conservation have been shown to be effective.

3) WATCH-DOGGING BIG HOMER DEVELOPMENTS  

PROTECTING WORLD-CLASS BIRD HABITAT AND PUBLIC ACCESS AT THE BASE OF THE SPIT

Our efforts at the base of this spit (and the participation of over 200 people in the Planning Commission process) resulted in some significant improvements to the Doyon, LLC hotel proposal:

• Reduction in the overall footprint of the hotel and condos to reduce impact to sensitive bird habitat and reduce congestion at a busy intersection.
• Addition of a 30-foot Vegetative Buffer on the West side of the hotel
• Addition of two Viewing Platforms for shorebird viewing
• Addition of a 20-foot Pedestrian path to access the viewing platform

We still need to work with the Borough and City Council to ensure that access is ensured via a title restriction, and we need to adjust city code, so the Planning Commission can’t just throw out the laws limiting building size and height wherever and whenever they feel like it (via a “Planned Unit Development”)…sheesh.

LANDSLIDE RISK ALONG HOMER’S BLUFFS

We have been working to shed light on risks associated with large-scale developments in areas that are particularly prone to landslides, for example, a  proposed 25-unit development at the base of Soundview Ave, which would be the largest housing development in the Homer’s history, and which would be located on a very unstable coastal bluff right below the highway.

Additionally, our efforts helped accelerate the release of data on landslide risk areas along Homer’s inland bluff, so that it can be used to assist in updating Homer City Code in 2025.

This data models where landslides would occur, what size they would likely be, and the likely path of the slide…good to know. Note, these data do not model the probability of a slide, but they do show where slides are possible. Also note, data do not model risks on the coastal bluff, which we know is eroding at a rate of two feet a year in Western Homer (see report above).

4) K-BAY JET SKI FREE

Last November, a Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of plaintiffs Cook Inletkeeper, Kachemak Bay Conservation Society, Friends of Kachemak Bay State Park, and Alaska Quiet Rights Coalition, in a case challenging jet ski use in two critical habitat areas. In 1972, the Alaska state legislature established critical habitat areas like Kachemak Bay "to protect and preserve habitat areas especially crucial to the perpetuation of fish and wildlife, and to restrict all other uses not compatible with that primary purpose.”

We are still in litigation, since ADF&G appealed the decision to the Alaska Supreme Court. Jet Skis are not legal in Kachemak Bay, but the state is not enforcing this law (that is not legal, if you are wondering). If you see a jet ski, please document it as best you can and send us info to pass along to our attorneys.

Happy Holidays from the KBCS Board!

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Best,

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KBCS Board: Katie Gavenus, Penelope Haas,Roberta Highland, Martie Krohn, Felix Kristonovich, Bjorn Olsen, Ella Parks & Jim Sterns

YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR DONATION

Or mail a check to:

3734 Ben Walters Lane

Homer, Alaska, 99603

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