Third time is no charm for Willow Creek

For the third time, a big proposed housing project southwest of Kalispell did not make it past the city's Planning Board.

The Kalispell Planning Board voted 4-2 Tuesday to recommend that the City Council not approve plans for the Willow Creek subdivision - contending the project is still trying to cram too many homes into 140 acres.

"I think we indicated what we want to be developed, and we keep getting ignored," board member Butch Clark said.

The board rejected a more densely packed proposal last October and another proposal - similar to Tuesday's - in May.

The Kalispell City Council already is considering whether to annex Willow Creek with R-3 single-family zoning, which would set a minimum lot size of 7,000 square feet and allow 450 to 500 homes.

What the Planning Board rejected Tuesday was a request by developers Wade and Hubert Turner for a planned-unit development to allow 580 homes and lots as small as 4,000 square feet.

A planned-unit development is like a contract - the city relaxes some zoning restrictions in return for the developers' promises to install mitigating measures.

In this case, the planned unit development would increase the number of homes and decrease some lot sizes in return for more parks and trails plus a guaranteed extra access road between Willow Creek and U.S. 2 to the north.

Willow Creek is bordered on the south by Foy's Lake Road, on the north by Ashley Creek, and on the east by the proposed U.S. 93 bypass.

During the past nine months, the Turners have dropped the number of homes in their project from 710 to 580.

The original 710 included 288 single-family houses, 82 townhouse units and 340 condominiums. The current 580 includes 314 single-family houses, 82 townhouse units and 184 condominiums.

In June, Clark and board chairman Bryan Schutt said 450 homes would be an acceptable number for Willow Creek. On Tuesday, Schutt repeated his support for 450 to 500 homes at the site.

The other board members did not say what their ideal numbers of homes would be. But most indicated they believe the 580-home scenario is too dense. Clark also contended that the northern access road to U.S. 2 should be built at the beginning of the project, rather than later as planned.

Twenty-nine people living within 150 feet of Willow Creek submitted a petition Tuesday requesting that the proposed R-3 zoning - with its minimum 7,000-square-foot lot size - be changed to R-1, calling for lots no less than one acre. That number of signatures now requires two-thirds of the city council to approve an R-3 zone.

But board member Kari Gabriel said one-acre lots are not cost-efficient for developers and do not fit the city's vision of what a viable residential area should be.

There were 16 people who spoke against the Willow Creek project Tuesday. They contended it would be too dense, create too much traffic, change the groundwater dynamics to increase flooding south of Foy's Lake Road and would overburden schools.

Ted Dexter Jr. spoke in favor of the project, contending it would help provide affordable housing to a Kalispell is that is drastically short of those type of homes.

Hubert Turner and consultant Wayne Freeman of CTA Architects Engineers contended that a proposed northern access road into Willow Creek would help relieve an already congested traffic situation along Foy's Lake Road, and that Kalispell's growing population is already overburdening schools regardless of where new homes are built.

Board members Gabriel and Rick Hull recommended that the city council approve the 580-home planned unit development for Willow Creek. Schutt, Clark, Robyn Balcom and John Hinchey voted no. Jim Wilkinson abstained because of a business-related conflict of interest.

In a related matter, the board chose to wait until Aug. 14 to act on the Turners' request to recommend R-3 single-family zoning to 24 acres just east of Willow Creek and the future U.S. 93 bypass route.

The Turners have no immediate development plans for that site, which they also want annexed into Kalispell.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com