Board backs 3,000-home Starling project

The Kalispell Planning Board gave thumbs up Tuesday to the potential 3,000-home Starling project despite protests from neighbors that the review process is going too fast for adequate public input.

The board is recommending that the one-square-mile project be granted an R-3 single-home residential zone with modifications for some multi-family buildings and neighborhood commercial sites when the developer - Phoenix-based The Aspen Group - seeks annexation into Kalispell. An R-3 designation puts the minimum lot size for a house at 7,000 square feet.

That annexation request is tentatively expected to go to the Kalispell City Council on June 18.

The board also recommended Tuesday that the council approve preliminary plans for Starling's first phase covering the northeast 63.5 acres of the 640-acre site, nestled against the intersection of Stillwater Road and West Reserve Drive.

The first phase proposes 131 single-family houses, 98 townhouses and seven multiple-family buildings that would hold 64 homes.

The Starling project - named after the late matriarch of the Grosswiler family that owns the land - is expected to be developed in 15 phases over 20 years. It's located west of Glacier High School.

The Aspen Group estimates it eventually will be the home of 6,000 to 8,000 people, which would be 30 to 40 percent of Kalispell's current population of 20,000.

"I don't think the city has seen anything like this ever," city planner Sean Conrad said.

FOUR NEIGHBORS from along the project's northern border objected at Tuesday's public hearing to the speed by which Kalispell's government is doing its public reviews of the project.

Marc Nevas, spokesman for at least six households, said that The Aspen Group's application packet is super-thick with voluminous details, and is available only during office hours at the planning office, and just very recently on the Web.

"It's impossible for the neighbors and the citizens of Flathead County to become well-informed on the application," Nevas said.

The six households hired former Whitefish Planning and Building director Bob Horne to review The Aspen Group's plans. Horne wrote in a letter that two months are needed for members of the public to adequately familiarize themselves with the plan in order to discuss it.

"We don't know anything about this. … We need time to look at this," area resident Robert Dregne said.

Nevas contended that Starling is seeking too many variances from Kalispell's original urban growth plans for that area.

"This could only indicate that [Kalispell's] growth policy and zoning regulations are terribly flawed and need to be completely rewritten, or that the developer's vision is badly out of line with Kalispell's most recent vision for the future," Nevas said.

He also argued that the proposed density for Starling's homes and the proposed overall 60 acres of commercial land won't fit well with the surrounding rural West Valley area.

He voiced concerns about the project increasing area traffic and the influx of students into that area's schools. And he criticized The Aspen Group for not contacting neighbors to discuss plans prior to submitting them to the city.

Nevas also questioned the city's wisdom is potentially greenlighting a 20-year development timetable when its own growth plans barely extend that far.

Other West Valley residents echoed his comments.

Kalispell's planning department received five letters from the public on the project. Four posed questions about density and traffic. The fifth - from Citizens For A Better Flathead - said the time to review the proposal has been inadequate.

Meanwhile, five local people - all with ties to construction or development - praised the project.

"I think it will be a very vibrant community," said Diana Blend.

Jerry Nix noted that "these densities … are not out of the ordinary for anywhere else in the United States. I believe this group has done its homework on this project."

They contended Starling is better-designed than most housing subdivisions for traffic, the area is appropriate for 7,000-square-foot lots, and the 20 years of advance planning will help pieces of the neighborhood fit together with the surrounding area.

The planning board agreed, supporting The Aspen Group's plans 5-0. Board members Rick Hull and Butch Clark were absent.

"I hope the neighbors don't think we rubber-stamped it. … This is a good project. We think it was done right," board chairman Tim Norton said.

Added board member John Hinchey: " It is a very dense project. But maybe it's in the right location for that."

GREG STRATTON, head of The Aspen Group's Montana ventures, and Mitch Black, head of Norris Design, a Denver-based planning and landscaping design firm, said Starling's houses would range in price from $150,000 to more than $500,000. The bulk of the new houses would be in the $150,000 to $225,000 range, they said.

This week, they said, 46 new houses in Kalispell and 39 new houses in rural Flathead County are in this price range. The Flathead is facing a scarcity of so-called "affordable" houses.

The Aspen Group estimated that 45 percent of Starling's houses will be earmarked for first-time home buyers, 45 percent for families moving from one house to another and 10 percent for upper-scale homes.

However, the price of $150,000 has been used in local housing circles as the upper limit for houses that are affordable to families making $49,000 a year.

Starling is planned to have 133 acres of parks and open spaces, with a required minimum of 90 acres for parks.

The commercial uses will be for neighborhood-style stores, not big businesses, Stratton said. He also contended that the project's density - 4.7 units per acre - is not out of line for housing subdivisions. The city staff agreed.

Since Starling has one master plan in 15 phases, it has flexibility to adjust to market conditions over the next 20 years, he said.

Stratton said The Aspen Group sometimes discusses plans in advance with neighbors and sometimes does not - with the firm choosing not to in this case.

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