Commission to discuss Raceway development

It’s do or die time for a proposed subdivision at Montana Raceway Park north of Kalispell.

Because the required review period is expiring, the Flathead County commissioners on Thursday will consider the preliminary plat and a resolution of intent to adopt a zone change for the proposed subdivision.

The commissioners will discuss the proposal at 10 a.m. in their chambers on the third floor of the county courthouse in Kalispell. Public comments may be made during a 15-minute comment session at 9 a.m.

Thornton Motorsports LLC wants to change the zoning on the 40-acre Raceway Park facility from agricultural to suburban residential zoning to accommodate a 57-lot subdivision. A planned-unit development also is proposed to increase density.

If approved, the zone change would allow homes to be built where the race track has operated since it was built in 1991.

Montana Raceway Park Manager Giles Thornton recently told the Daily Inter Lake that the race-track facility has a full season scheduled this year.

In January 2017 the county Planning Board tabled the planned-unit development request to allow Thornton Motorsports time to revamp the project to offer a different design and a second access to the site.

The commissioners went ahead with a public hearing last February for the proposed zone change to convert the property from agricultural with a 40-acre minimum lot size to suburban residential zoning, but no decision was made.

Meanwhile, no updated information on the subdivision design or access issue was ever submitted to the Planning Office, according to planner Kari Nielsen.

“They didn’t update [the application] at all,” Nielsen said. “We’ve received no information.”

If the commissioners approve the preliminary plat and adoption of resolution of intent for the zone change, a public hearing would be scheduled.

Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.