Hotel owner takes issue with potential for nearby eight-story parking garage
One Kalispell business owner says adding a proposed eight-story building to downtown would be detrimental to the aesthetics of town.
John Barr, owner of the Grand Hotel on Main Street, told City Council on Monday that he has concerns about details surrounding a planned parking garage to the west of his hotel.
“We bought a historic building in the downtown and we’re concerned about an eight-story structure right next to the hotel,” he said. “If we do this here, that will be the most prominent architectural feature in the downtown district when you’re driving downtown — you’re going to see a large cement structure even if it’s faced with brick.”
“It’s certainly not going to look like an 1890s western town like it looks right now,” he added. “Clearly the development of it will affect the downtown district for decades to come. It needs some thought.”
The developers behind The Charles Hotel and the related parking garage at the intersection of First Avenue and First Street West recently approached the city about shifting the plan for the parking structure to include an estimated 70 housing units. The move would make the parking structure roughly eight stories in height.
Council held a work session on June 13 to discuss the concept. It seemed to favor adding housing — noting the city’s shortage of housing — but wanted more details about the plans including where residents would park.
The hotel, planned for the corner of Third Street West and Main Street, would replace an existing surface parking lot. Constructing the nearby parking garage would then provide parking for the hotel and public.
Barr said he believes that adding The Charles Hotel to downtown would enhance business for everyone. While he agreed that “affordable housing is a crisis” in the community, he questioned whether this is the best location, noting that parking would be needed to support that housing.
“We have a very big interest in this by owning that hotel,” he said. “To continue to operate the hotel we need to have parking and will we have enough parking as we do now. We need to have enough parking close by because we have a lot of elderly clients.”
DURING THE meeting, Council held a public hearing on changes pertaining to the Eagle Valley Ranch development on U.S. 93 North but heard no comments on the matter.
Spartan Holdings is requesting a zoning map amendment, growth policy map amendment and annexation with initial zoning for property at 3201 U.S. 93.
The Eagle Valley Ranch PUD was created in 2018. The developer has acquired the adjacent land containing the former Homefitters building and the neighboring vacant property currently within the county that it would like to incorporate into the subdivision.
Council approved the FY23 preliminary budget and set a public hearing for July 5 on the budget. Then, on Aug. 15, City Council is set to adopt the final budget.
The city’s preliminary budget is just over $111 million as compared with the last fiscal year’s budget of $104 million. The general fund is expected to be $14.1 million, which is about $550,000 less than last year’s budget primarily because the general fund budget doesn’t include as many capital expenditures.
In a connected matter, Council approved a salary adjustment for the city’s non-union employees with a 3.5% based adjustment.
As part of the budget process, Council reviews the recommendation to adjust the wages of employees not represented by one of the three collective bargaining units in an effort to maintain consistency between employees.
Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.