Council approves two development projects
The Kalispell City Council on Monday approved preliminary plats for two real estate development projects in north Kalispell.
One of the two developments, Phase Two of Silverbrook Estates, is looking to develop the remaining 167 acres of the 325-acre subdivision near U.S. 93 and Church Drive. Phase Two includes four sub-phases that would contain 197 single-family lots, 90 townhouse lots and 18 commercial lots.
Of the 46 conditions approved by the 2009 Kalispell City Council, the 2016 council dove into the document with a few amendments in mind. The first was a condition waiving the rights of homeowners to protest the creation of a special improvement district to upgrade the subdivision’s sanitary sewer system.
“I don’t like the idea of taking the residents’ current and future right to protest this council away from them,” council member Chad Graham said. “Always try to leave that intact when we can.”
Graham said the council had also chosen to remove a similar condition from the plat for the BeeHive senior care facility north of Kalispell.
Council member Phil Guiffrida echoed Graham’s comments.
“It doesn’t stop us from doing an SID later,” Guiffrida said. “All this does is give us political cover down the road and I don’t need it. If future residents of Kalispell want to protest something like this, they should.”
When the main sewer line does need to be upgraded, Silverbrook homeowners would only be required to pay for their respective portion of the sewer line’s use.
The amendment to strike the condition waiving residents’ right to protest the special improvement district passed 6-3, with council members Jim Atkinson, Kari Gabriel and Wayne Saverud voting against it.
Guiffrida also made a motion to strike a similar amendment that would waive residents’ rights to protest another special improvement district to finance road improvements. This time, the motion passed unanimously.
The council also passed several other housekeeping amendments to the plat.
An hour and a half after beginning the discussion on Silverbrook Phase Two, the preliminary plat passed unanimously.
The council also approved the Owl Corporation’s preliminary plat request for Owl View Subdivision north of Glacier High School.
The land use of the three lots has not been fully determined yet, aside from one townhouse covering about half an acre. The preliminary plat request suggests the other two lots would be used for office space or multifamily residential space. The subdivision would use Kalispell services such as water, sewer, police and fire.
This is Owl View Subdivision’s second round through the council approval process. In February 2014, the developers asked the council to rezone the area for more office space. The council rejected the rezoning request but amended the zones to allow for both residential and some commercial space.
This time, the preliminary plat passed unanimously.
Tonight, council members Rod Kuntz and Jim Atkinson will host a Ward 3 Town Hall meeting at City Hall. All Kalispell residents are welcome to attend with comment.
On Jan. 27, council members Guiffrida and Tim Kluesner will hold the first Ward 4 Town Hall meeting at City Hall.
The next City Council work session is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 11 at Town Hall, 201 First Ave. E.
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.