At their last regular meeting on Dec. 4, Homer’s Planning Commission opened a discussion on whether to implement a temporary moratorium on specific conditional use permit applications.

A moratorium is generally defined as a temporary prohibition on an activity. According to a Dec. 4 memorandum to the commission from City Planner Ryan Foster, typically a moratorium is used for one of two purposes — when a local government is preparing a comprehensive plan or extensive amendment of land development codes and is trying to avoid a rush of applications that would be contrary to the proposed plan or regulations, and when there is an inadequacy or lack of capacity in public facilities to serve new development.

Foster also noted that moratoriums “should be specific to purpose, area, and have an end date” and “should forward a legitimate government purpose and not be arbitrary or capricious.”

Commission Chair Scott Smith is currently conducting research on the merits of implementing a moratorium, as well as what the language for such an ordinance should look like and what specific issues it should address.

Smith plans to bring his findings back to the commission in January, where the conversation on if and how a moratorium should be put into place will resume. If the commission decides to move forward with a moratorium, they will make a recommendation to the Homer City Council and seek sponsorship from a council member to draft an ordinance. The planning commission does not have the authority to institute a moratorium on their own; it must first be brought before the city council for consideration.

A public hearing on the moratorium will be determined at a later time, should the issue move forward.

One of the instances in which a conditional use permit becomes required is when there are, or the lot owner plans to build, multiple structures on a single lot in addition to the primary residence. The memo outlines Smith’s reasons for considering a moratorium on specific CUP applications. The issue largely stems from insufficient language in Homer City Code governing square footage allowance, particularly for ocean-facing properties or bluff situations where a lot contains property area that is now occupied by the ocean and is still included in the measurable/usable square footage formula. Such cases, according to Smith, do not accurately represent allowable building space on these lots.

“Part of what it is, is that the lots that contain shoreline, if you actually look at the plats there are lots where a significant portion of that allowable measured space is in the ocean now,” Smith said Monday. “Whereas, way back when (the plats) were initially drafted, part of it was underwater, but now (there’s) a significant amount more (due to) coastal erosion.

“So how does that impact how we evaluate available building space? Somebody who’s applying for a multiple-structure permit, when some of that allowable space is technically unbuildable because it’s underwater, that’s kind of an unjust scale for someone right next to them who has the same amount of lot space and doesn’t have that luxury,” he said.

As the planning commission has been working with project leaders on the comprehensive plan and upcoming Title 21 rewrite, they have been noting areas in code that need to be re-evaluated and given new language. The allowable building space on lots containing shoreline is one of those areas, according to Smith, as the current code language “does not adequately serve the community.”

Aside from implementing a moratorium, the commission may have the option to revise the applicable Title 21 code governing usable square footage. However, Smith said, the commission is reluctant to do that while the comprehensive plan is still being assessed and prior to the zoning code update that will be conducted in 2025.

“Our options are limited,” Smith said.

He referenced a recent CUP application that came before the commission earlier this month where the commission struggled with the issue of real allowable space versus what city code allowed.

“We were all recognizing that the language, the math formula to determine the allowable number of structures on a lot greatly needed to be addressed, especially along coastal lots — ‘coastal’ being ones where they have boundaries within the ocean,” he said.

If a moratorium on these specific CUP applications is eventually implemented, it would only be in effect until the conclusion of the Title 21 revisions, Smith said.

At present, the Title 21 update is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2025.

Find Memorandum PL 24-042 and the full meeting recording on the City of Homer website at www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/hapc/planning-commission-regular-meeting-181.