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Kenai Superior Court Judge Charles Huguelet ruled Wednesday that an injunction filed against the Kenai Peninsula Borough by Vern Kingsford, a Moose Pass resident who has a structure encroaching on borough land, was invalid.

Kingsford, owner of Scenic Mountain Air and Alaska Float Ratings, had cabins, storage facilities, a fuel tank and a covered deck on Moose Pass School property. Kingsford has since moved all encroaching structures to his land except for one storage shed.

Borough officials discovered the encroachment when they were looking at water issues on school property.

The school district intends on fully enclosing the partially gated property, which Kingsford said would block his access to Upper Trail Lake where his float planes take off and land.

During his opening statement, Kingsford, representing himself, asked the court for a temporary restraining order to prevent the district from building the fence and give him a chance to present his case to the borough.

"What I'm asking for is time," he said.

Blocking his access to the lake will cause irreparable harm, Kingsford said.

He said the land in question is the only location along the lake that allows for a boat to be placed in and pulled out of the water. Other water access points are too steep, he said.

Kingsford did not deny that the borough owned the land, saying, "We already know it's not my land." But he argued that the public has an 80-year history of using the access to the lake.

Kingsford said he doesn't mind the district building a fence, but does object to a fence that will block his lake access.

Kingsford said the strip of land in question is between 400 and 600 square feet.

"This issue to me is vital," he said. "I want my rights to have the time."

Kingsford's lone witness was former Borough Mayor John Williams. During his testimony, Williams said that he and Kingsford made an oral agreement that if Kingsford moved three of his encroaching cabins, he could then go through the necessary steps to obtain a temporary land use permit, which would allow him to utilize lake access and leave his storage shed on borough land.

Prior to completing work on the permit, Williams lost the Oct. 2008 election to current Mayor Dave Carey.

Williams added that allowing Kingsford to access his floatplane via borough land would not interfere with school land.

During cross-examination questioning, Williams said the agreement between him and Kingsford was never put in writing, nor did he ever speak to the school district about the situation as it is borough land and doesn't belong to the district.

Williams couldn't say if Kingsford ever applied for or received a temporary land use permit from the borough.

"The permit was never issued," Kingsford said.

Kingsford said he recently applied for a permit but was denied within eight hours.

Though he made the agreement with Williams last summer, Kingsford said it was his own ignorance that caused him to apply for the permit so late.

If he doesn't receive a permit by next spring, Kingsford said he would move the last piece of encroaching structure from the borough's land.

School District Director of Planning and Operations Dave Spence also took the stand, saying the matter at hand isn't an about access but rather student safety.

Spence said there is only one way for delivery trucks to enter the school, which takes them near the playground area. He cited a recent incident where a truck driver almost hit a child as the catalyst for creating a "safety corridor" to divert traffic away from the playground.

Spence said the district plans on constructing a new road that goes along the gym-side of the building to prevent any future accidents.

"We believe this is a life safety issue," Spence said.

Building a fence down to the shoreline will minimize the risk of bear-student interaction, Spence said, as a salmon stream exists close to the school's property.

Spence said should Kingsford apply for a land use permit, he would object to it.

"I think your stuff needs to be on your property," he told Kingsford during cross-examination questioning.

Spence said the district does not have plans to cut down any spruce trees between the school's property and Kingsford's.

The fence extending down to the shoreline does not have anything to do with the safety corridor, Spence said. He said it establishes the property line. The borough needs to go as far as it can in legally defining property lines, Spence added.

"Things don't always stay constant with schools," Spence said. "We're trying to make it a safer place."

Mike Nesper can be reached at mike.nesper@peninsulaclarion.com.