Board OKs zoning for proposed new U.S. 93 subdivision

A 181-acre site will seek annexation into Kalispell with recommended zoning for single-family housing.

The Kalispell Planning Board voted 6-1 Tuesday to recommend that the 81-acre Flathead Village Greens be zoned R-2 - single-family houses with minimum lot sizes of 9,600 square feet - if the City Council decides to annex the land.

This project is along the west side of U.S. 93 with Silverbrook Estates on its northern border.

The Owl Corp., the owner, has not decided yet how the site will be set up, how many houses will be built, how fast they will be built, and how fast the plans will be nailed down, according to Mark Owens of Owl Corp.

Owl Corp. expects to use a road bordering Big Mountain Golf Course to the south and a future street through yet-to-be-built Silverbrook Estates as access roads to Flathead Village Greens - staying away from seeking a new access road on U.S. 93.

Three neighbors plus a representative of Citizens For A Better Flathead asked the Planning Board to recommend R-1 zoning - meaning a minimum lot size of one acre - as an interim measure with a zoning change to be addressed after more detailed plans materialize.

"No one knows what type of plan is proposed. Until you know the plan, you won't know what zoning is appropriate," neighbor Sharon DeMeester said.

Mayre Flowers of Citizens For A Better Flathead said: "You want to provide assurances to the community that you will hold their feet to the fire and ensure a quality development."

Silverbrook Estates submitted its zoning and detailed development simultaneously with its successful annexation request months ago - and received a council green light for everything. But many other developers have followed Owl Corp.'s more gradual approach in the past, said Tom Jentz, the city planning director.

Whether the detailed plans are submitted along with zoning and annexation requests - or much later - depends on the goals and make-ups of the individual developers, Jentz said.

He also said Owl Corp. needed the final zoning pinned down to determine how dense its housing can be before the company can draw up more detailed development plans. Projects such as Silverbrook Estates gambled on the council approving the entire package at once, Jentz said.

Board member Rick Hull cast the sole dissenting vote on the R-2 zoning recommendation as part of a long-running philosophical stance against a long finger of Kalispell jutting farther and farther to the north.

Flathead Village Greens is one of four projects that - if all are annexed - would extend Kalispell north along the U.S. 93 corridor to Church Drive and Ponderosa Estates, adding almost 1.7 square miles to the city.

The other projects are:

. The 481-acre Glacier Town Center - a mixed retail-and-housing project - being put together by developer Bucky Wolford. It would extend Kalispell north from West Reserve Drive along the east side of the U.S. 93 corridor. Wolford is expected to seek annexation sometime this year.

. The 81-acre Valley Ranch. If annexed, it would stretch Kalispell from Glacier Town Center to Ponderosa Estates - and would link catty-corner across U.S. 93 with Flathead Village Greens to its northwest. The Valley Ranch subdivision is earmarked to hold 222 single-family houses plus 80 assisted living units and 20 independent living units inside an assisted living complex.

. The 325-acre Silverbrook Estates west of U.S. 93. This extends from Flathead Village Greens to Church Drive. It already has been annexed.

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