Development extension sought for town center property

The Kalispell City Council tonight will consider a request by Stillwater Corporation, owned by Roger Claridge, to extend the Planned Unit Development approval on the Glacier Town Center property.

The Planned Unit Development was originally approved in February 2008, along with annexation of the property and the first phase of the Glacier Town Center preliminary plat. Since then, the Planned Unit Development and the plat have been granted successive extensions.

Glacier Town Center encompasses 485.5 acres between U.S. 93 North and Whitefish Stage Road north of Glacier Memorial Gardens cemetery, the Stillwater River and West Reserve Drive.

Glacier Town Center at one time was proposed for two million square feet of retail and commercial space and 600 residential units. That plan by developers Chad and Bucky Wolford never materialized, and the property went back to Claridge, the original owner.

The plat currently is set to expire in January 2015. Stillwater Corporation has decided to allow the preliminary plat to expire without filing a final plat application.

Instead, the firm plans to re-evaluate the phasing plan and product types due to current market conditions. Eventually, Stillwater wants to develop the property, hence the request to maintain the Planned Unit Development overlay zoning for an eventual new preliminary plat proposal.

According to the Kalispell Zoning Regulations, if the Planned Unit Development lapses, the underlying designation remains in place but all of the conditions associated with the Planned Unit Development will expire. The project would then require a new application.

Tonight’s City Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Kalispell City Hall.

In other business, the council has scheduled a work session Oct. 27 to discuss a revised version of a pending pawn shop and secondhand store ordinance.

The ordinance would require businesses dealing with secondhand goods to electronically file their weekly purchases using software that connects their inventory to the police department. The idea is that this system will make it easier to track stolen goods and return them to their rightful owner.

At the work session, the council also will open the floor for public comment on a draft of the Kalispell Growth Policy.

The policy does not create law or regulate development, but instead, is a community guide for making land-use decisions. “Plan It 2030” looks at Kalispell city limits, land beyond city limits where annexation could be reasonable within the next decade, and the Growth Policy Planning Area that extends three miles out from the current city limits.

The city hopes to draw in public comment and discussion for both issues so a vote can take place at the next regular City Council meeting.