Willow Creek gets council OK

Developers Hubert and Wayne Turner finally got the approval they wanted.

The Kalispell City Council approved amendments to a preliminary plat and planned unit development for the 140-acre Willow Creek development on Tuesday night.

Trigon Inc. began planning the project five and a half years ago, said Hubert Turner, who added he was “pretty happy” about Tuesday’s approval.

He hopes to have Phase I of the project, located north of Lone Pine State Park on the west side of Kalispell, complete by Labor Day.

The total number of homes in the development is slated to be 473, with most being single-family homes.

The council changed two of 65 conditions of approval recommended by the Planning Board.

One would cede the developer’s water rights from Ashley Creek to the city. Mayor Tammi Fisher expressed doubt that such a requirement would pass legal muster, citing a Missoula case that dealt with easements.

City Attorney Charlie Harball said he wasn’t familiar with the case. Council member Bob Hafferman made a motion to review the issue during Phase III. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Even though a compromise was reached to put a bike/pedestrian trail crossing underneath a connector road to Willow Creek, both Hubert Turner and Richard Siderius of Rails to Trails said they would like to improve it in the future.

The current design would use a concrete box culvert that reportedly would cost between $10,000 and $15,000 plus labor.

Local Realtor Chris Hall criticized some of the lower-end “tract housing” envisioned by the developer. He said Turner is “trying to squeeze money out of his investment” by building houses with very little yard.

One portion of the development will have houses with a 10-foot yard in front and back and only five feet on the sides.

Turner said those houses would cost between $124,900 and $140,000. That portion of the development is dense, he said, but noted the total number of units is reduced from a previous plat. There also would be 53 acres of housing and 49 acres of open space. Each house is “always at least 800 feet from open space,” he said.

Council member Jim Atkinson said he had “some real concern with the density,” and he and Randy Kenyon later voted against the preliminary plat. It passed 7-2.

Planning Director Tom Jentz said the design, which consists of a house on a lot that is 40 feet wide and 100 feet long, “has been very popular in other communities,” citing Missoula in particular.

“We’ve got to think about the people who are starting out,” Hafferman said.

Council member Tim Kluesner said he liked the design.

Other Willow Creek homes conceivably would be priced between $140,000 to $160,000 and $175,000 to $225,000, Turner said. These would have larger yards more typical of an average home.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.