LETTER: Hospital needs to address other issues in its zoned area

Hospital zone construction continues at a steady pace. To accommodate future development, Kalispell Regional Healthcare has applied for a Growth Policy Amendment for Mixed Urban Use for 9.55 acres it owns north of Sunnyview Lane and west of Grandview Drive. The land is currently zoned RA-1 or high density residential.

To keep its options open for more office facilities, parking, retail, restaurants, and other permitted uses in the H-1 zone, KRH should first address long-ignored traffic inadequacies in zone. The city should insist that this developer participate in providing the necessary infrastructure to support future growth.

Among the deficiencies are the following:

—Incomplete sidewalk and bike path systems.

—Too many T intersections degrading the flow of traffic.

—Poorly constructed, private streets like Burns Way and the extension of Conway that serves Brendan House.

—Lack of a public street built to city standards to connect Sunnyview and Claremont east of U.S. 93. (A narrow, private driveway currently serves that purpose.)

—Potentially compromised emergency vehicle access to hospital services because of heavy reliance on U.S. 93 being free-flowing at all times

—Increased vehicle and pedestrian use of Grandview Drive, straining an already inadequate “country lane” without sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and guardrails

Kicking the ball down the road in the H-1 zone will make solving its transportation problems more difficult and expensive in the future.

In the short-term KRH seeks to expand a neighboring parking lot. However, passage of its proposed GPA should come after the city considers the impact of all land uses possible under an Urban Mixed Use or H-1 zone designation. —Margaret Davis, Lakeside (and hospital area homeowner)