Homer’s Planning Commission will once again consider a conditional use permit application from Doyon, Limited for a planned use development consisting of a hotel, employee housing and triplex short-term rental units at 1563 Homer Spit Road, 1663 Homer Spit Road and 1491 Bay Avenue — also known as the Bayview Subdivision Lighthouse Village project.
After the commission voted 6-1 to deny Doyon’s original application for CUP 2023-08 on Jan. 31, the company filed an appeal on March 1, which the City of Homer then referred to the Alaska Office of Administrative Hearings on March 13. OAH remanded the appeal to the Planning Commission on June 21 following a joint motion filed on June 10 by Doyon and the City of Homer “for Entry of Decision Ordering Remand and Further Proceedings After Doyon Submits Revision to Its Planned Use Development Proposal.”
In accordance with the remand decision, Doyon will submit to the Planning Commission a revised application “consistent with this decision and order and the City of Homer Zoning and Planning Code” for consideration. The revised application will also include a revised site plan for the PUD and a narrative describing the revisions made.
A public hearing will be scheduled after the revised application is submitted.
Both Doyon and the City of Homer also waived their rights to further appeal issues in connection with CUP 2023-08 as originally proposed, according to the OAH decision. If any appeal is to be made in the future, it will be with regard to the revised application and site plan.
The Planning Commission’s denial of CUP 2023-08 came after a 6-1 majority vote at the Jan. 31 special meeting. Commission chair Scott Smith noted in the commission’s findings for denial that, at 80,505 square feet, the proposed hotel development exceeded the allowable footprint according to city code.
According to the OAH decision, both Doyon and the commission later agreed that the commission’s reliance on Homer City Code 21.24.040(e), which “provides that the total square feet of floor area of retail and wholesale business uses within a single building shall not exceed 75,000 square feet,” was incorrect.
“The parties have stipulated that Doyon’s application for a conditional use permit for a planned unit development does not include retail or wholesale business uses, and therefore the building area and dimensional requirements of HCC 21.24.040(e) do not apply to Doyon’s permit application,” the decision states.
According to OAH, Doyon only appealed the commission’s decision on CUP 2023-08 on March 1. As such, OAH’s decision and order for remand only applies to the CUP. The Planning Commission’s original decisions regarding Doyon’s application to rezone the 1.35-acre lot at 1491 Bay Avenue from rural residential to General Commercial 1, as well as vacating the B Street right of way south of Bay Avenue, still stand.
At their Jan. 3 meeting, the commission voted to recommend approval of the rezone, but voted against recommending approval of the right of way vacation.
Both rezoning authority and the authority to vacate rights of way lie with the Homer City Council, not the Planning Commission. When this matter appears before the council at a future meeting, to be determined, the commission will recommend that the council approve the rezoning of 1491 Bay Avenue to GC1, and recommend that the council not approve vacating the B Street right of way.
In line with their decision on Jan. 3 to not recommend approval for the B Street ROW vacation, the commission also decided on Jan. 17 to not recommend approval of the Lighthouse Village preliminary plat to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission. Platting authority lies with the borough commission, not the City of Homer.
OAH’s decision and order for remand was included as informational material in the agenda packet for the commission’s regular meeting on Wednesday, July 17. No discussion was held on the matter during the meeting.
A date for the Planning Commission’s consideration of Doyon’s revised application is not yet set. According to the city clerk’s office, the commission has 45 days from the date the application is submitted to schedule and hold a public hearing.
Once the public hearing is closed, the commission then has another 45 days to present their decision on the revised application.
The OAH decision and order for remand document is available in full in the July 17 agenda packet at www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/hapc/planning-commission-regular-meeting-174.
The next Planning Commission regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 6:30 p.m., to be held in the Homer City Hall Cowles Council Chambers.
The former Lighthouse Village property overlooking Kachemak Bay and the Homer Spit, now owned by Doyon Inc. and the proposed site for the construction of a large hotel complex, is photographed on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
