Subdivision plan call for 535 homes

A plan is in the works to extend Kalispell southward and add possibly 535 new homes.

That plan includes building at least 100 affordable houses, with a target price of $135,000 each.

The family of Josephine and the late Hank Siderius recently requested Kalispell to annex 207 acres west of U.S. 93 South along with growth policy changes and zoning to create a residential and commercial site in a region currently designated for industrial use, said Jerry Nix, the project's coordinator and broker.

The commercial district's focus would be to serve the site and the immediate area as a neighborhood hub.

The planned neighborhood has been drawn in broad strokes, while details - such as the exact number of houses, townhouses and apartments - still need to be nailed down. The 535-home figure is a rough estimate that could change, Nix said.

The site is bordered by Cemetery Road on the north, U.S. 93 on the east, Ashley Meadows on the south, and not quite to Ashley Creek on the west.

Highlights of the proposal are as follows:

. A community land trust has already been set up to own at least 100 lots within the project.

A community land trust owns the land beneath a house, with a buyer purchasing only the house and not the land. That eliminates land costs from a home's purchase price. Consequently, the community land trust should be able to sell houses for roughly $135,000, Nix said.

Houses selling for $150,000 or less - which includes land costs - are rare in the Flathead. Local housing experts say half of the Flathead's families cannot afford to buy houses for more than $150,000.

. About 13 acres will be sold as right-of-ways for the future U.S. 93 bypass, which will go through the site's southern half.

. Almost 80 acres will be a neighborhood commercial area within walking distance of the homes.

This is supposed to serve primarily extreme southern Kalispell and farther south - and act as a commercial hub for the project's homes.

Potential businesses could include a grocery, an office supply store, a hardware store, a drug store, an auto supply shop, medical and dental offices, restaurants, galleries and an exercise facility.

Three-story buildings would be built along three street blocks on the site's northern half. Each building would be a combination of stores, offices and homes - set up according to each building owner's wishes.

Part of the project's master plan is to give the area active foot and vehicle traffic during both days and evenings, Nix said.

. Almost 115 acres are earmarked for residential use.

That includes roughly 40 acres for parks and open spaces, and another at least 6.5 acres for a potential K-8 school for the Somers district.

An estimated 535 homes - apartments, condos, townhouses and houses - spread across 68.5 acres translate to 7.8 housing units per acre.

If annexed, this site will extend Kalispell's main border south along the west side of U.S. 93 South until it reaches about three quarters of a mile from the Old School Station industrial park, a 55-acre "island" of incorporated land separated from the rest of the city.

The Siderius project would hook up to the city's water and sewer lines that extend south to Old School Station.

Nix said the Siderius family anticipates selling the site in phases to builders over several years.

Josephine Siderius' children and co-owners are Jo Lynn Yenne, Patricia Sanders, Ray Siderius and Linda Siderius.