Downtown parking garage up for vote at Kalispell Council

Several votes surrounding a planned downtown parking garage head before Kalispell City Council on Monday evening.

The city is looking to enter into agreements with Montana Hotel Development Partners to turn a parking lot at First Street West and First Avenue West into a parking garage with commercial space. The project includes multi-family housing.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the City Hall, 201 First Avenue East.

Council is also set to vote on transferring a city-owned lot at Third Street West and Main to the developers for the construction of The Charles Hotel.

The projects come from a city request for proposals to redevelop the Main Street lot. The developers submitted plans for The Charles Hotel for the lot and since the hotel requires valet parking, the company additionally proposed the construction of a parking garage about two blocks north at First Avenue West and First Street West. The hotel project requires providing parking for its own demand at 90 spaces.

The parking garage is planned to have about 240 parking stalls on four levels with 6,200 square feet of commercial use on the ground floor. Seventy-eight residential units are planned for the upper floors.

The city is proposing to reimburse the developer for the public parking garage construction from tax increment finance funds generated by The Charles Hotel and parking garage development.

The parking garage component of the project is estimated at $9.2 million. The parking garage will be owned and operated by the developer but leased back to the city.

Council will have to approve the public parking garage development agreement, public parking structure lease agreement and the transfer of the lot.

In addition, Council will vote on a conditional use permit request for the parking structure and for additional height over 60 feet for the building. The city has no height limit, but any building over 60 feet requires a CUP.

The parking garage is proposed to be eight stories or about 88 feet tall.

In a related move, Council is set to consider a resolution that would temporarily remove two-hour parking restrictions on Second Street and Fourth Street effective for when the parking permit holders are displaced due to construction on the parking lots for the garage and the hotel.

AFTER MUCH debate, Council is finally set to vote on a plan that would open up tax increment financing (TIF) funds to be made available for projects with workforce housing.

Kalispell has been looking at updating two of its urban renewal plans to allow for TIF funds to go toward housing projects. Developers could apply for funds to assist with workforce housing for households making 80% to 120% average area median income.

Currently, a developer could ask the city for TIF funds to be directed to the infrastructure costs of a project, but the change would allow a developer to apply for funds specifically as a way to reduce the cost of the rent.

Council during previous discussions has been split on the matter with some wanting broader income guidelines, while others saying the change is unnecessary. Last month, Council heard from affordable housing experts. They told Council that more assistance is needed for those making less than 80% and encouraged Council to further study the issues surrounding housing.

Now City Manager Doug Russell and Development Services Director Jarod Nygren are recommending Council drop the changes. In a memo to Council, they note that several comments have been received centered on housing affordability issues within the valley as a whole, but there were no comments in support of the changes as currently proposed.

“With the demonstrated conflict and opinions that have emerged by simply proposing and discussing this amendment, moving forward with the proposal or iterations of the proposal would likely facilitate further unnecessary conflict,” the memo says. “As such, the recommendation is to pause the discussion on this topic until there is further agreement related to the variables and appropriate uses around the provision of tax increment financing within a respective district.”

ALSO ON the agenda, Council will consider two annexation requests for properties that wish to connect to city services.

Loucas Scholer and Sarah Russell are asking to annex two separate, but adjoining properties at 2150 and 2152 Airport Road to allow the properties to connect to city water due to a failing well.

Green Acres Cooperative has requested the annexation of property at 171 South Woodland Drive for the mobile home community. Most of the 32 mobile homes on the property are already connected to the city sewer and the annexation allows the remaining homes to connect, as well as to improve the sewer infrastructure presently serving the site.

Spartan Holdings has submitted a request for final approval of the Eagle Valley Ranch Phase 2 and 3. The phases contain 67 single-family lots, two multi-family lots and 14 office lots. The subdivision is situated generally along U.S. 93 south of Ponderosa Residential Subdivision, east of Northern Pines Golf Course and north of the Montana National Guard facilities.

Council approved the preliminary plat for the subdivision in February 2019.

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.