Board wants bigger lots in subdivision

The Daily Inter Lake

A proposed, 8.5-acre, 38-lot subdivision appeared to be too cramped for some neighbors and the Kalispell Planning Board.

The site is at the western end of Bismark Street, immediately west of part of the Sunnyside subdivision in South Kalispell.

Ashley Heights, LLC, is seeking annexation for that land with zoning to allow single-family homes with minimum lot sizes of 6,000 square feet.

Six area residents argued at a Tuesday Planning Board hearing that the proposed development crammed too many homes into the site.

They also contended the proposal would create traffic problems, especially with a narrow Sunnyside Drive and an expected exit ramp for the future U.S. 93 bypass, which would border the site's western side.

The Planning Board agreed with those arguments.

It voted 4-1 to recommend that the Kalispell City Council put the minimum lot size at 9,600 square feet, which would trim the number of lots. That final number would depend on space taken up by roads and other infrastructure.

Board member Rick Hull dissented, believing the project could work with a minimum lot size of 7,000 square feet.

Also last week, the Planning Board:

. Recommended that the council allow the Flathead Hospital Development Co. to operate a learning center and a sick-child care center in the lower part of the building at 66 Claremont Ave. That portion had recently held a U.S. Veterans Administration clinic.

. Recommended that the council allow Brian Cloutier of Ashley Square Partnership to split a 3.2-acre lot within Ashley Square into two lots.