Alaska Supreme Court upholds decision ordering local election for Soldotna annexation plan

Gulls gather on the Cook Inlet beach at Kenai on Aug. 5, 2018. Redoubt Volcano looms on the other side of the inlet. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled against Soldotna on an annexation issue that has roiled the Kenai Peninsula city and some of its neighbors for almost a decade.

On Friday, the court ruled that the state’s Local Boundary Commission had the power to order a local election over the city’s plans to annex nearby neighborhoods.

The nonpartisan commission is in charge of municipal boundary disputes and had ruled in 2020 that local residents should be allowed to vote on the annexation.

The city opposed the move and sued, saying that the commission was acting beyond its authority under state law and the Alaska Constitution. 

City officials had sought to advance the annexation under the principle of “legislative review,” under which an annexation will proceed unless specifically opposed by the Alaska Legislature. 

When the commission ordered an election, it marked the first time in its history that it converted a petition for legislative review into a petition subject to a local vote.

The commission itself was divided on the issue but ultimately voted 3-2 to order a local election.

In Kenai Superior Court, Judge Lance Joanis ruled in the commission’s favor with a September 2022 order.

Joanis found that the regulation that allows the commission to convert an annexation petition and order an election was authorized by the Alaska Constitution and that the commission’s action was reasonable.

The city appealed, but the high court, ruling unanimously, upheld Joanis’ decision.

“Given that the regulatory requirements for annexation were established but fierce debate among locals continued amidst borough opposition, there was a reasonable basis for the Commission to decide that a vote could “enhance” the balanced best interests of the locality and State,” wrote Justice Susan Carney on behalf of the court.

Carney noted that municipalities are unlikely to request an annexation via local election, which makes the commission’s ability to order an election important.

“Although the Commission has never before converted a municipality’s petition for annexation by legislative review to one by local option, the Commission had a reasonable basis for choosing to use it for the first time here,” she said.