AM 890 Homer, 88.1 FM Seward, and KBBI.org: Serving the Kenai Peninsula
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Homer City Council considering land purchase near Karen Hornaday Park

A portable toilet at Karen Hornaday Park on Feb. 1, 2024. New mobile restrooms will replace the porta-potty later this year.
Jamie Diep
/
KBBI
Karen Hornaday Park on Feb. 1, 2024.

The Homer City Council will consider buying property next to Karen Hornaday Park at its next meeting. The council introduced an ordinance last week that would set aside $135,000 to buy a 20-acre property north of the park.

Council member Shelly Erickson co-sponsored the ordinance with council members Donna Aderhold and Storm Hansen. She said the land offers many opportunities for recreation.

“I think that the whole property just lends itself to so many different things, and I think that it's a very smart move, even though we had had no intention of buying any property,” she said.

According to a memorandum from Homer Community Development Director Julie Engebretsen, the land is a part of Woodard Canyon and has trail access going up the hillside. When the property went on the market last November, local residents purchased the land to give the city time to determine if they could buy it.

Homer-based author Tom Kizzia is one of the four landowners. He said the canyon is important for protecting wildlife and managing stormwater.

“To keep that land in public ownership and under public control, seems like a really good idea. And certainly to discourage anybody from building more steep roads and cutting into the, into the side of the bank and the unwise ways to build a house seemed like a positive as well,” he said.

Kizzia said they plan to sell the property to any interested buyer if the city decides against the purchase.

The city council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance at its next meeting on Jan. 27. Members of the public will be able to comment on the purchase before the council makes a decision.

Jamie Diep is a reporter/host for KBBI from Portland, Oregon. They joined KBBI right after getting a degree in music and Anthropology from the University of Oregon. They’ve built a strong passion for public radio through their work with OPB in Portland and the Here I Stand Project in Taipei, Taiwan.Jamie covers everything related to Homer and the Kenai Peninsula, and they’re particularly interested in education and environmental reporting. You can reach them at jamie@kbbi.org to send story ideas.
Related Content