Kalispell annexes north site

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

On Monday, the Kalispell City Council approved annexing the 325-acre Silverbrook Estates at the southwest corner of Church Drive and U.S. 93 - 2.2 miles north of the rest of Kalispell.

The council also approved the preliminary plan for Silverbrook's first stage, which mostly addresses how the site's southern half will be developed.

The developer and owner - 93 and Church LLC - wants to build 446 houses, 120 townhouses and an 18-acre commercial district in two stages. On Monday, the council also approved the residential and commercial zoning needed for 93 and Church LLC's specific plans for the individual segments of the site.

The first stage will be to build 249 houses in the site's southern half, dig two wells in the site's northwestern corner and donate that land for a city fire station, and construct a main arterial street from Church Drive to angle southeast to connect with U.S. 93 across from Tronstad Road.

The developers hope that the project's first phase will be complete in two to four years. 93 and Church LLC wants to begin construction in the spring of 2007.

The proposed second phase is to build the commercial district and townhouses in the site's northeastern corner, plus 217 houses in the northern half.

Council members, city planning board members and the city's staff praised how the project is set up for houses, roads, park space and commercial buildings.

The council voted 8-1 to annex the site with council member Bob Hafferman dissenting. Hafferman wanted a major percentage of the houses built before the site would be annexed - contending that would ensure Silverbrook would pay enough taxes so Kalispell would not lose money serving an area 2.2 miles from the rest of the town.

Hafferman joined the majority to approve the site's zoning and preliminary plans.