Theater plan gets OK from planning board

The Kalispell Planning Board on Tuesday night unanimously recommended approval of local developers' plans to build a movie-theater, hotel and shopping-center complex on U.S. 93 North.

The board had few questions and little discussion, which its members attributed to the developers' thoroughly thought-out and well-prepared plan for the Hutton Ranch Plaza project.

"This is the most comprehensive plan I've ever seen," board member Timothy Norton said.

"Every question I could have come up with was answered with either a fold-out map or this three-ring binder," he said, pointing to the plan the developers submitted to the board.

Phil and Donna Harris, owners of the Gateway, Liberty and Strand theaters, asked the board to recommend that the city approve annexing the 46-acre property and grant an initial zoning designation of general business, a change from the county designation of suburban agriculture. They also seek a planned unit development for the plaza.

The Harrises, who recently relocated to Kalispell from California, plan to build a 14-screen movie theater, restaurants, retail spaces and a 120-room hotel on the site, which is between Target and Flathead Valley Community College. Hutton Ranch Plaza will include 500,000 square feet of development.

The couple swapped about 110 acres of their land east of Target for 25 acres along U.S. 93 owned by Flathead Valley Community College.

He and his wife will give the college $300,000 for the difference in appraisal values.

The college has approved the deal, but it won't be finalized unless the developers receive annexation and the desired zoning from Kalispell.

The board commended the developers for a plan that states they will keep in mind the city's proposed-but-not-yet-adopted standards for lighting and architectural components of commercial development.

Kalispell planner Narda Wilson said she thinks the Harrises have a good plan for an area that has seen much commercial development during the past few years.

"From a planning standpoint," she said, "this will bring some synergy to this area and will be high quality."

Phil Harris briefly addressed the board but did not give a presentation about the $65 million project, because board members had read about it in the information packets about agenda items that they receive before each meeting. Harris simply told the council he and his wife expect Hutton Ranch would be a "positive addition to the community."

The board did receive one letter of opposition from a valley resident, but no one spoke against the project Monday night.

The City Council will review the plan during an upcoming meeting.

Harris, 55, has developed numerous movie theaters through his company, Signature Theatres, and has helped develop shopping centers. He has had discussions with businesses interested in occupying Hutton Ranch Plaza, but he won't name names at this point in the negotiations.

The Harrises would keep the other Kalispell theaters but would change their uses.

The 450-seat Liberty would show art films and would be available for concerts and other uses during weekends. The Strand would be converted to retail and/or office space. The Gateway would be torn down and likely developed as a hotel site.

Hutton Ranch Road (hence the center's name) runs through the property and marks the project's two phases. The northern phase, which includes the theater, would be built first. Construction could start by April 2006, and the theater might open by Dec. 25, 2006.

Plans call for a street to connect U.S. 93 to the property's eastern boundary. That street would align with a road planned south of Lowe's where the new Costco building will go, and the intersection will have a traffic light.

Wilson addressed board members' concerns about whether the light, which would be approved by the Montana Department of Transportation, is a guarantee.

The light is almost certain, she said, because eventually enough traffic will be in the area to warrant one. Also, the new Kalispell fire station will be built on the west side of U.S. 93, and the fire department needs to be able to control the traffic flow because of emergency vehicles coming and going, Wilson said.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com.