Residents of River Terrace RV Park in Soldotna have settled out of court with their landlords, roughly six weeks after alleging violations of the Alaska Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in a class action lawsuit filed in Kenai Superior Court.
In all, 19 tenants signed on to the civil suit, which accused Gary Hinkle and Brian Bishop — doing business as River Terrace RV park — of supplying residential water contaminated with arsenic, failing to provide adequate water pressure and mischarging for electricity.
The group of tenants was represented by the Northern Justice Project, a private civil rights law firm based in Anchorage. Aneliese Palmer, the attorney who represented the tenants, said Friday that the settlement agreement is confidential, meaning neither the attorneys nor the parties can discuss the agreement or its terms.
Among other things, the suit accused Hinkle and Bishop of failing to address arsenic water levels higher than those allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, charging tenants arbitrarily for electricity use, failing to serve eviction notices uniformly and not addressing chronically low water pressure.
A press release distributed by the Northern Justice Project on Dec. 11, 2023, described tenants forced to collect rainwater and snow to get enough water to flush their toilets, another who rents a hotel room to shower and yet another tenant who said they haul water to the RV park from a local gas station.
At the time the suit was filed in December 2023, residents of River Terrace were facing eviction. As of last August, River Terrace was home to more than a dozen year-round residents. Residents were given notice at the end of July 2023 that they would need to vacate the property by May 2024 as the aging property owners — Gary and Judith Hinkle — look to make the business model more manageable.
The RV park occupies three parcels of land covering 9.7 acres on the east side of the Sterling Highway where the highway intersects with the Kenai River. That area has been identified by the City of Soldotna as a possible community hub as part of its Riverfront Redevelopment Project, however, both the city and the attorney of the River Terrace property owners have said the evictions are unrelated to the project.
Through the suit, residents sought an injunction to stop all planned evictions, damages including full back rent, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
