Comment sought on changes for city growth policy

The Daily Inter Lake

The Tri-City Planning Office is accepting public comment on a variety of potential changes and updates to the Kalispell Growth Policy.

The growth policy was adopted in February 2003. It calls for an annual review by the Kalispell City Planning Board, just to make sure the document continues to be relevant and meet the needs of the community.

The board recently held a public hearing to fulfill that requirement and solicit comment about any potential updates.

Several members of the Flathead County Planning Board attended and offered their insights.

Kalispell attorney Ken Kalvig also suggested that the city might be better off if the growth policy's future land-use map didn't provide any land-use designations for areas outside the city limits, given that it has no legal authority in those areas.

Following the hearing and a subsequent workshop, the Kalispell planning board identified several issues that warrant further consideration, including:

. The possibility of expanding Kalispell's utility service boundary, which indicates the areas outside the city limits where municipal services could be extended in the future. This issue came up because city limits already are bumping up against the boundary in some areas.

. Planning around the city limits;

. Redevelopment incentives and other ways to encourage growth in certain areas;

. Techniques for affordable housing and how to expand housing options, such as apartments and mobile home parks;

. Parkland requirements.

Given the upcoming holidays, as well as the need to address other items on its work schedule, the board doesn't plan to consider these issues in detail until early next year. Public comment will be accepted in the interim; a public hearing also will be held on any proposed revisions to the growth policy prior to their adoption.

For more information, or to comment on the above items, contact Senior Planner Narda Wilson at 751-1850.