Board supports new apartment building

Kalispell Planning Board members on Tuesday unanimously supported a permit for Depot Place, a new apartment building for low-income seniors.

The three-story, 40-unit apartment building would be built at the northwest corner of Third Avenue East North and East Center Street, across the railroad tracks from the Sherwin-Williams store.

Construction could start as early as this summer or fall and be completed by next June if the requested conditional use permit is approved by the Kalispell City Council, as recommended by the advisory planning board.

“It’s exciting to see this lot developed,” Planning Board member Bryan Schutt said. “It’s been gathering dust and weeds and trash for some time.”

Depot Place is being spearheaded by Sparrow Group, an affordable housing development firm in Missoula. It’s estimated to be a $3.9 million construction project.

The proposed apartment building fits in well with the surrounding neighborhood and the Core Area Revitalization Plan that is taking shape for Kalispell’s railroad corridor, Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz said.

“That plan is in its draft stages, but it talks about increased densities in the downtown and mixed-use properties,” Jentz told the Planning Board.

“One plan is to have the railroad tracks removed and that become a walking path with green space access. With downtown close by and two major grocery stores within 100 yards of the site, this project fits well in the neighborhood.”

Apartments at Depot Place would be available for seniors with incomes below 60 percent of area median income. That’s about $24,300 a year for one person and $27,780 for a couple.

Rents would range from $425 to $650 a month with all utilities included, said Alex Burkhalter, project manager and vice president of development for Sparrow Group.

The Missoula firm has a half-dozen similar properties in Montana and more in Washington, Wyoming and North Dakota. It developed the Spring Creek Apartments on Appleway Drive in Kalispell in 2008 and 2009.

“We’re happy to be working in Kalispell again,” Burkhalter said.

PLANNING BOARD members also agreed to recommend that the City Council approve a zoning text amendment to let Kalispell Center Mall replace a broken electronic readerboard in its sign near Main and Center streets without having to bring the nonconforming sign into compliance with zoning regulations.

The existing sign does not meet size and height regulations and normally would have to be brought into compliance with completion of such repairs, which are considered to be outside the scope of routine maintenance.

“This proposal would allow a business to repair or replace a readerboard with another one of the same size, color lights and type,” city planning staffers said in a report on the mall’s request. “The goal is to allow the repair of the sign without changing its general appearance.”

In other business, the planning board voted to elect Chad Graham as chairman and Schutt as vice chairman.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.