Land-use changes sought near Kidsports

Bloomstone, the 569-unit housing development in north Kalispell that was shuttered because of a sagging market last year, comes back before the Kalispell Planning Board on Tuesday night.

Skyline Development Corp., the parent company of Bloomstone Development, will be gauging the board’s reaction to a proposed change in Bloomstone’s planned unit development approval it won in May 2008.

If board members generally agree to increased density, developers expect to bring a formal request back to the board in May.

Developers want to carve away the southeast corner along Four Mile Drive and move that density to the northern end closer to Reserve Loop. Bloomstone’s 85 acres are sandwiched between the Kidsports complex to the east and the proposed north-half U.S. 93 bypass to the west.

At issue, according to Planning Director Tom Jentz, is whether developers can shift density from the top of the hill on the south end to lower ground on the north end.

That proposal is prompted by the pending sale of a piece of hilltop property above the soccer fields.

An investor is interested in building an assisted living facility on that parcel to the southeast. If the Planning Board agrees to the concept, it may clear the way for the land sale.

That, in turn, would reduce land available under the original Bloomstone project put together by Kalispell National Investment Co.

To make the project pencil out and end up with nearly the same number of buildable lots, the developer wants want to eliminate 6,000- to 8,000-square-foot single-family lots on the hill and move smaller condominium units downhill to the north.

But that density could prompt the Planning Board to revisit its original concern with Bloomstone — tightly packed housing lots. Developers trimmed 196 lots from original plans before winning planned unit development approval in May 2008.

Greg Lukasik, project manager with Morrison-Maierle engineers, will explain the proposal Tuesday.

The original site plan, to be built in five phases, included five different housing types.

Single family homes were on 6,000- and 8,000-square-foot lots and on “Z” lots, so called for the irregular cut-out shapes that made room for garages, fireplaces and media niches in the homes. Minimum lot-line setbacks would follow the house contours, giving the street-side appearance of no space between the homes.

The original site plan also included duplex townhomes, apartments and condominiums.

Today, developers want to eliminate the roomier single-family lots in favor of the smaller ones. Vehicles would enter garages either from the street out front, an alley in back or by a driveway along the side of the house.

Jentz said the developer doesn’t intend to go ahead with the housing project now, but is staging for the future when a more viable market returns.

Also at Tuesday night’s work session, Planning Board members will start putting specifics in a new policy on when and why to annex land into the city.

A discussion on bringing Trumbull Creek Crossing, a proposed development north of Evergreen on East Reserve Drive, prompted the policy talks.

The Planning Board had recommended City Council approval but added a caution about annexing islands of development into the city.

When the council took up the matter at a January work session, members asked for a joint work session with the Planning Board and on March 8 held that meeting to exchange ideas.

Tuesday night, the board will begin its own series of meetings to refine a map outlining probable annexation areas and decide on philosophy.

Jentz suggested a list of annexation boundary options:

n Annex anywhere within growth policy map boundaries.

n Require land to be immediately adjacent to city limits.

n Set a boundary of perhaps a half-mile or mile from city limits.

n Set a boundary limited by topography.

n Set a boundary based on anticipated development over coming years.

n Draw a line around all the islands already annexed and require new development fill in those spaces.

n Accept outlying projects, but require that they waive the right to protest annexation when they become adjacent to city limits in the future.

n Start creating annexation districts that require outlying projects to build to city standards but not get annexed for several more years.

Tuesday’s work session starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall.