MEMORANDUM

KENAI PENINSULA BOROUGH

LEGAL DEPARTMENT

144 N. Binkley Street Tel. (907) 262-8609

Soldotna, Alaska 99669 Fax (907) 262-8686

TO: Bill Dunn, Roads Director

Sam McLane, Road Service Area Chair

Members, KPB Road Service Area

FROM: Holly B. Montague, Assistant Borough Attorney

DATE: November 23, 1999

SUBJECT: Sectional analysis for revisions to road construction standards

Following is a sectional analysis of the proposed revisions to the road construction standards:

Article I. Introduction

The primary revisions for this article concern sentence construction and grammar. However, the $250 fee, which has never been imposed, is deleted in favor of requiring the applicant for road maintenance to pay for the inspection process when the application is made post-construction. The requirement for the applicant to pay for this process is contained in the current code; however, the use of the word "owner" confuses the issue since the owner of the road is the borough while the applicant may or may not be an adjacent property owner.

Article II. Definitions

The term "residential" is deleted from the definitions since there are no other references to land use for lots which are accessed by borough-maintained roads.

Article V. Construction Standards

In Section A(1), a sentence is added allowing a 50-foot width for cul-de-sacs which serve no more than six lots. This provision is consistent with the standard in the platting code at KPB 20.20.110. This provision will avoid the need to apply for an exception to the 60-foot right-of-way width in this limited circumstance.

A sentence is also added which requires that a road certified for maintenance be contiguous with a road maintained by the borough or the state. Maintenance contiguity is already a requirement pursuant to assembly Resolution 92-26, Exhibit A, adopting road service area regulations in 1992. However, it is most convenient for both the borough and the public to have all relevant standards in one document.

Article V(D) contains a provision allowing for exceptions to the standard requirements. The burden is on the applicant to meet the criteria for receiving an exception to the standards. The applicant must demonstrate that it is not economically feasible to construct the roads to borough standards, that the applicant did not cause the condition upon which the request for an exception is based, and strict compliance with the standards would result in rejection of the road for borough maintenance. The RSA board may grant a lesser exception than that requested by the applicant and may place conditions on the granting of the exception in order that any road certified for maintenance substantially complies with borough standards.

Article VII. Drainage and Culvert Material

Article VII is revised to allow the board to require engineering analysis and design for roads which are susceptible to flooding and other natural conditions which may damage the right-of-way, adjacent property, or adjacent water bodies. The current provision on drainage and culvert material does not explicitly address these broader issues related to drainage.

Article X. Signs

This article contains revisions to sentence construction and minor revisions conforming the section to the borough code provisions which address signage.