City of Homer Updates Zoning Policies
By Hal Shepherd
The City of Homer is making changes to its Zoning Code that could affect land uses, the community, and the environment for the next two decades. a According to the City of Homer’s Title 21, “[t]he Homer Zoning Code is adopted as one means of implementing the general goals and policies of the Homer Comprehensive Plan. Its purpose is to enhance the public health, safety and welfare through land use regulations…”
Zoning codes determine how land is used and set rules for property functions within a municipality. Effective zoning aligns with the comprehensive plan’s vision for future land use. A well-crafted code equips the Planning Commission and staff to regulate development, protect and enhance the community, and clearly communicate requirements to residents, builders, developers, and businesses.
Open House
In November, the City sponsored an Open House on the code, which included the following topics:
• Open House Posters: here
• Open House Presentation Slides: here
• Homer News Story: here
• If you missed the in-person event, or if you attended but have more to say, you
can visit the Virtual Open House to share your comments, questions, and feedback on the proposed changes.
The Virtual Open House is open through January 16, 2026.
Planning Commission Title 21-Focused Work Sessions
From December 2025 through January 2026, the Planning Commission is holding a series of work sessions to address specific code changes. Some of the concerns raised by public comments and testimony during these work sessions focus on meetings the Planning Team (PT) has had with builders, developers, realtors, and business owners before the scoping process began, resulting in proposed amendments to the code that are heavily weighted in favor of development, while so far, despite significant public feedback on these issues, there have been little to no proposed changes regarding protection of wetlands, watersheds and open space.
The slide presentation for the first work session on December 3, which focused on “District Consolidation/Simplifying Zoning Districts,” featured the statement “More Housing in More Places” and “Making Housing Easier to Build in Homer” but did not include a discussion of how more development would impact watersheds, open space & wetlands.[1]
The slide presentation for the next work session on December 17, 2025, focused on the “Development Process” and “improving zoning code means making approval processes simpler.”[2] This included reducing approval times for Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) by limiting CUP requirements to only those developments with the most significant community and environmental impacts. The PT suggested that this will give the Planning Commission more time to focus on other priorities, though these have not been clearly defined. As part of this work session titled “Administrative Adjustments,” the PT also proposed transferring authority for minor permitting decisions from the Planning Commission to staff.
The final work Session on January 7, 2026, will focus on “Natural Hazards and Features (Wetlands and Watercourses).”[3] The PT recommendations under this section of the code consist of citing the current code provision, but no recommendations for specific changes to protect open space, wetlands, or watersheds within or affected by the City.[4]The PT suggests that the reason for the lack of such recommendations is that, among other things, the “basis for all wetland regulations via zoning requires a clear wetland boundary. Without that data or a clear way to create it, staff would have no way to evaluate a development proposal/land use application.”[5] This is regardless of the fact that the Kachemak Bay Watershed Council and other members of the public have repeatedly submitted changes for protecting open space and integrating mapping of sensitive environmental areas, protecting watersheds from overdevelopment, and preventing flooding and landslides hazards.[6]
Another factor in the management of wetlands and watersheds looming on the horizon is the Trump Administration’sannouncement last month to revise the Waters of the United States rule (WOTUS) which would largely gut the Clean Water Act (CWA). The WOTUS Rule determines which waters – e.g., rivers, streams, and wetlands – are subject to CWA protections. Because the Army Corps of Engineers is the agency responsible for issuing permits for development within City Boundaries that will impact wetlands, and the Corps jurisdiction will be drastically limited by the expected rollback of the WOTUS rule, some members of the public are encouraging the city to take over that jurisdiction. To this end, wetland regulations could be created using a clear wetland boundary already established by KBCS in Promoting Open Space pages 3-11 on integrating digital mapping of sensitive Environments into the Code.
Submit Comments on the Draft Rules
Even after the completion of the Planning Commission work sessions, the public can submit comments to the City Council when the public review draft of Title 21 of the Code is released (anticipated late January 2026).
Other Ways to Contribute Your Input
Submit a virtual comment card here to share your ideas or
Contact the Planning Team:
City Planner, Ryan Foster, 907-299-8529, rfoster@ci.homer.ak.us
Project Manager, Shelly Wade, 907-242-5326, shelly@agnewbeck.com
[1] City of Homer, Homer Title 21 Update - The City of Homer is revising its zoning policies, found in Title 21 of the City Code, p. 4-5 (November 2025) (Title 21 Update).
[2] Title 21 Update p. 6.
[3] Ibid p. 7.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] See, e.g. KBCS PROMOTING OPEN SPACE IN HOMER (2025)(Promoting Open Space).
This captures a classic tension in municipal planning where process efficiency can inadvertently become code for reducing regulatory friction. The thing that jumps out is how the PT consulted builders and devlopers before scoping but deferred wetland mapping as technically unfeasible. KBCS already mapped those boundaries, so its really a question of political will. I watched a similar dynamic unfold in Boulder where the city initially said riparian setback enforcement was too complex without parcel-level data, until residents showed them existing watershed studies. Once you frame environmental constraints as administrative burdens rather than baseline planning inputs, the whole conversation tilts toward "streamlining" that erodes protection. The timing for this matters especially with WOTUS getting gutted.