Kalispell council seeks input on downtown renewal plan

Kalispell officials and businesspeople envision a downtown enlivened by the Kalispell Trail, a multi-use trail scheduled to replace railroad tracks in the years ahead.

But the potential for improvements doesn’t stop there, downtown advocates say.

Kalispell City Council will hold a public hearing tonight to solicit input about a draft Downtown Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan. The City Clerk’s office sent about 225 letters to property owners within the plan’s boundary to notify them of the hearing, but others are invited to comment.

The plan describes several challenges facing downtown and identifies possible interventions.

For example, remedies to current woes might include, among others: a parking garage; improving infrastructure to make water more accessible and affordable to downtown businesses; and, re-establishing the historic center-lane landscape median and widening sidewalks to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly.

The plan observes that “the single greatest issue in downtown Kalispell is ready access to water along Main Street.”

A municipal water main runs down the east side of Main Street, about 8 feet from the curb, and tapping this line can be expensive for properties on the east side of Main Street and prohibitively costly for properties to the west.

A new Tax Increment Financing District for downtown could raise money to pay for the improvements. Such districts allow municipalities to capture additional taxes as a district increases in value. Property owners in the district do not shoulder increases in property taxes. TIFs hinge on identifying blight said to limit new development in the district.

In other business Monday, the council:

- Could adopt a proposed set of legislative priorities in advance of the 2019 legislative session in Helena.

•Will receive a report about the city’s annual Kalispell Architectural Awards.

The draft Downtown Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan can be found at: www.kalispell.com/DocumentCenter/View/1791/Downtown-Kalispell-Urban-Renewal-Plan-2018-DRAFT

Council meetings begin at 7 p.m. at Kalispell City Hall, 201 First Av. E.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.