Tyonek Native Corporation CEO Stephen Peskosky testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in opposition to inclusion of Tyonek in the Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission during an assembly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Tyonek Native Corporation CEO Stephen Peskosky testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in opposition to inclusion of Tyonek in the Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission during an assembly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Size of Nikiski planning group still unsettled after assembly delays action

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday voted 6-3 to delay action on legislation that would reduce the geographic footprint of Nikiski’s Advisory Planning Commission.

The legislation would move the western boundary of the commission to the east side of Cook Inlet. As approved by assembly members last fall, the commission’s current boundaries include communities on the west side of Cook Inlet, such as Tyonek and Beluga.

Nikiski residents successfully petitioned last year for the creation of an advisory planning commission. Shortly after assembly members approved the commission, however, groups from the west side said they were not consulted during the petition process and do not want to be a part of the commission.

The ordinance considered Tuesday was defeated earlier this month after a tie vote by assembly members, where one assembly absence left the body split. Assembly member Cindy Ecklund, who is one of the ordinance’s co-sponsors, moved to reconsider the issue at the assembly’s Tuesday meeting.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough’s advisory planning commissions give residents the opportunity to advise the boroughwide planning group on issues affecting their area, including platting, permitting and certain legislative issues.

Nikiski petitioners say west-side communities should be included in Nikiski’s Advisory Planning Commission because of how many Nikiski residents work and recreate in the area. Those in favor also say the boundaries as initially approved are consistent with those of other Nikiski groups.

Residents from the west side community of Tyonek, however, say they were left out of the petition process and do not want to be included in the group. Tyonek is a different community than Nikiski, residents say, with a long history of doing its own land use planning and economic development.

At more than 3.5 million acres, the area included in the boundaries of the Nikiski group as approved by assembly members is more than four times the size of the borough’s other group areas combined. Even if the boundaries were reduced to exclude the west side of Cook Inlet, the commission would still have the largest acreage of any other borough commission by more than 44,000 acres.

Assembly members heard testimony from the heads of both groups during Tuesday’s meeting, including Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission Chairman Jason Ross and Tyonek Native Corporation CEO Stephen Peskosky, who said he traveled from Anchorage to testify in person.

Ross, who said he works on an oil platform on the east side, said commissioners discussed what would happen if Tyonek were removed from the commission’s boundaries and worried it could set a precedent of any group removing themselves from a commission’s boundaries.

“Trying to dissect (Nikiski and Tyonek) away from each other is a very difficult thing in my mind to grasp,” Ross said. “Everybody that lives on the east side considers the west side part of Nikiski. We don’t consider it the other side of the inlet.”

Peskosky said the boundaries outlined in the original ordinance are not representative of local community interests, which is what advisory planning commissions are principled on. He reiterated that many Tyonek residents did not know that there was a petition being circulated until after the assembly had already approved the commission.

“One of the things that I was thinking about when I was digesting this issue was thinking about if the folks of Tyonek or another west side community found it their interest to form an APC and their scope of influence was to include several million acres on the Kenai Peninsula, how would that be received?” Peskosky said. “I think the answer is pretty obvious.”

Included in Tuesday’s assembly packet were 46 identical letters signed by residents of Tyonek asking the assembly to reduce the size of the Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission. The letters say that Tyonek residents are not part of the Nikiski community and there are no common land or cultural ties that justify keeping both in the same boundaries.

Assembly member Brent Hibbert proposed during Tuesday’s meeting an amendment that would have redrawn the commission boundaries in a way that excludes lands on the west side of Cook Inlet owned by Native Corporations, which he said provided a compromise.

Though that amendment failed, assembly members voted to postpone the legislation to allow for more time to come up with a different alternative.

Brent Johnson said that he would vote to postpone despite thinking that the issue is “very simple.” The process has created hard feelings, Johnson said, and he would like to see a better relationship between petitioners and west side residents.

“I hope that in two weeks that we can come forward with a compromise that looks a little bit more, somehow, equal,” Johnson said.

Tuesday’s assembly meeting can be streamed on the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s website at kpb.legistar.com.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.

Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission Chairman Jason Ross testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission Chairman Jason Ross testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

More in News

The waters of Cook Inlet lap against Nikishka Beach in Nikiski, Alaska, where several local fish sites are located, on Friday, March 24, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Unprecedented closures threaten setnet way of life

Setnetters have been vocal about their opposition to the way their fishery is managed

Legislative fiscal analysts Alexei Painter, right, and Conor Bell explain the state’s financial outlook during the next decade to the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Legislators eye oil and sales taxes due to fiscal woes

Bills to collect more from North Slope producers, enact new sales taxes get hearings next week.

Expert skateboarder Di’Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and whose work is featured on the new U.S. stamps, rides her skateboard next to her artworks in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles Monday, March 20, 2023. On Friday, March 24, the U.S. Postal Service is debuting the “Art of the Skateboard,” four stamps that will be the first to pay tribute to skateboarding. The stamps underscore how prevalent skateboarding has become, especially in Indian Country, where the demand for designated skate spots has only grown in recent years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Indigenous artists help skateboarding earn stamp of approval

The postal agency ceremoniously unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard” stamps in a Phoenix skate park

Bruce Jaffa, of Jaffa Construction, speaks to a group of students at Seward High School’s Career Day on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Seward High School in Seward, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward students talk careers at fair

More than 50 businesses were represented

Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

State tax officials on Thursday provided lawmakers an analysis of potential revenue impacts and benefits from the project

Jerry Burnett, chair of the Board of Game, speaks during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Board of Game decides on local proposals

Trapping setbacks, archery hunts and duck restrictions were up for consideration

Audre Hickey testifies in opposition to an ordinance that would implement a citywide lewdness prohibition in Soldotna during a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council kills citywide lewdness ordinance

The decision followed lengthy public comment

Samantha Springer, left, and Michelle Walker stand in the lobby of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Springer named new head of Kenai chamber

Springer, who was raised in Anchorage, said she’s lived on the Kenai Peninsula since 2021

Forever Dance performers rehearse “Storytellers” on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Storytellers’ weave tales with their feet

Dance and literature intersect in latest Forever Dance showcase

Most Read