Rose Crossing concerns fail to sway council

Debbie Street’s warnings about current and future traffic hazards on Rose Crossing did not fall on deaf ears, exactly.

Yet her concerns failed to influence a vote Monday night by members of the Kalispell City Council.

Council, with two members absent, voted unanimously to approve Eagle Valley Ranch’s request for a growth-policy amendment allowing a portion of the development to proceed as a mixed-used project.

Street, a resident of Rose Crossing, had asked council to include a condition requiring Eagle Valley Ranch to file an amended traffic impact study that would consider the impact of the development on Rose Crossing.

She said another development in that area, Kalispell North Town Center, could be asked to cooperate with an expanded traffic impact study that would look at effects on the portion of Rose Crossing in Flathead County.

Street said she worries about public safety, particularly because of a curve so sharp it directs traffic to slow to 10 mph.

“It petrifies me,” she said, noting that wintry ice and snow will exacerbate hazards.

Street said traffic has increased dramatically since Rose Crossing was extended from its intersection with Whitefish Stage Road to U.S. 93. Motorists, including truckers, are using it as an alternative to congested West Reserve Drive to travel between U.S. 2 and U.S. 93, Street said.

Two consultants working for the developer of Eagle Valley Ranch and one council member said Street’s concerns likely have merit.

But that doesn’t mean the developers of Eagle Valley Ranch, Spartan Holdings LLC, should pay for an expanded traffic study, said Mike Brodie with WGM Group.

Brodie noted that Eagle Valley Ranch will be nearly 2 miles from Rose Crossing.

Council member Rod Kuntz described Street’s work identifying current and future traffic issues on Rose Crossing as worthwhile. But he said the responsibility for addressing the road’s potential problems in Flathead County does not fall at the feet of city council.

As envisioned by the developers of Eagle Valley Ranch, the 99-acre site, formerly known as Valley Ranch, would feature 225 residential lots, 12 mixed-use office/residential lots and an apartment complex.

The developers sought the mixed-use designation for 41 of the 99 acres.

The proposed development is along U.S. 93, south of the Ponderosa Estates residential subdivision, east of the Northern Pines Golf Course and north of the Montana National Guard facilities.

On Aug. 14, the Kalispell Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend that the council amend Kalispell’s growth policy to allow the mixed-use portion of Eagle Valley Ranch. Council did just that.

In other discussion Monday, Mayor Mark Johnson reported he had talked to an official with the U.S. Census about the 2020 Census. He emphasized that full participation by state residents could yield another seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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