Kalispell council ready to vote on dispensary regs

Marijuana dispensaries could get the green light from the Kalispell City Council during a meeting Monday evening.

An ordinance before the council would make it legal to operate a marijuana dispensary with a conditional-use permit in all of the city’s business zones, as long as there is a 300-foot buffer from dispensaries to churches, schools, parks and city residential areas.

Cultivating and manufacturing marijuana would be allowed with an administrative conditional-use permit — which carries a requirement to notify neighbors about the proposed use — in the city’s industrial zones.

It will be the first reading of the ordinance, but because of a successful ballot initiative in 2020, state law requires the city to put its marijuana regulations into place by Jan. 1, 2022.

ANOTHER BIG decision up for approval Monday is a new interlocal agreement between the city and Flathead County to operate the Flathead City-County Health Department.

The agreement before the council represents the first update since the last Interlocal agreement was established in 2004. The joint City-County Health Board came together in 1976.

The updated agreement would give official status and voting representation to the cities of Whitefish and Columbia Falls. The cities would each elect their own representatives to the Health Board.

Two development proposals also are on the agenda.

One application comes from Kilday & Stratton, a Bozeman real estate developer, for a 58-acre property.

The developer is requesting a zone change, a planned-unit development overlay and preliminary plat approval for multiple phases of a mixed-use residential development west of Stillwater Road, between Four Mile Drive and West Reserve Drive.

Starling Phases 1 and 2 contain approximately 14.9 acres and include 77 residential lots and sublots (37 single-family and 40 townhome lots). Phase 3 is a single lot and a common area totaling approximately 5.9 acres. The proposed uses for Phase 3 include 35 multi-family dwelling units, a combination of live/work units and office space, or small-scale neighborhood retail spaces.

Thirty-nine additional acres would be included in the overall zone change and PUD overlay, but not the preliminary plat.

The second development proposal on the table Monday comes from G23 Properties, LLC.

The developer is asking for annexation, initial RA-1 zoning plus a planned-unit development and preliminary plat approval for a 38.4-acre property. The development, known as Parkland Meadows, would be located at the northeast corner of Airport Road and Cemetery Road.

A pair of miscellaneous items will also require council deliberation Monday.

One is a $44,074 budget amendment to the Community Development Budget because of an unanticipated shortfall.

The other is a use agreement with the KALICO Art Center to install and maintain vinyl artwork wraps on six traffic signal boxes in downtown Kalispell.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 201 First Ave. E.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.