Hearing on Happy Valley casino postponed
A public hearing for a tavern and casino planned off U.S. 93 near Happy Valley has been rescheduled for the Flathead County Board of Adjustment’s Sept. 6 meeting.
Gary Ohs, owner of the property, and Den Gar Properties LLC have asked the county for a conditional-use permit to allow for a 4,500-square-foot bar, restaurant and casino on 3.8 acres where the former Midway Motors car lot was located.
The project had been scheduled for a public hearing on Aug. 2, but when only three Board of Adjustment members were present, Den Gar Properties representatives chose to postpone the hearing. With only three of the five board members present, the applicant would have needed all three members at the meeting to vote in favor of the permit request for the project to move forward, county planner Donna Valade said.
The proposed bar, restaurant and casino business has drawn opposition from several neighbors who have cited traffic congestion at the intersection of U.S. 93 and Hodgson Road as a key concern. Access to the new business would be off Hodgson Road.
Sara Kohrt, a Mallard Loop resident, wrote to the county Planning Office to say that a stoplight must be a consideration. She noted that many young children live in the area and often walk and bike in the neighborhood.
Kohrt and others also are concerned about a business serving alcohol in a residential neighborhood.
“We and our neighbors feel this would not be a good place for a bar, restaurant and casino,” she wrote.
Several neighbors noted the difficulty in turning both north and south onto U.S. 93 from Hodgson Road because highway traffic doesn’t slow down much through Happy Valley.
The property is in the Blanchard Lake Zoning District and is zoned for general business development. Parcels to the north and west are also zoned general business. Property to the south is zoned R-2 residential and to the east is agricultural land with a 20-acre minimum lot size.
Regarding the traffic flow, the Montana Department of Transportation recommends eliminating the approach to the site on Hodgson Road nearest to U.S. 93 “to give a better separation for traffic entering and exiting from U.S. 93,” according to the planning staff report.
The proposal already states the plan is to eliminate that approach.
Den Gar Properties provided traffic volume information from the Institute of Transportation Engineers that estimates a peak hour trip generation of 13.4 vehicle trips per thousand square feet for casino/video lottery use. The proposed 4,500-square-foot facility would generate about 60 vehicle trips per hour during peak times.
Using the institute’s estimate for a “drinking place,” the proposed business would generate 60 to 69 vehicle trips per hour during peak evening hours.
“The amount and type of traffic resulting from the proposed use is anticipated to be similar to existing traffic conditions on Hodgson Road and Highway 93 and does not appear to generate traffic out of character for the area,” the planning staff report states.
The planning staff report notes the business would have 20 seats in the gaming area, 11 seats at the bar and 40 seats at 10 tables in the restaurant area, for a total of 71 seats.
The property owners would provide 22 parking spaces, as required by the county zoning code. Hours of operation would be 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
The planning staff report’s findings of fact for the conditional-use permit generally meet the review criteria for general business zoning. The application and staff report are available on the county website, http://flathead.mt.gov. Go to the Planning and Zoning Department page and click on meeting information.
The Board of Adjustment will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett Building, 1035 First Ave. W. in Kalispell.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.