Kalispell planning board looks at parking garage proposal

The Kalispell Planning Board on Tuesday will consider a proposal to construct a parking garage, along with retail space and housing, at First Street West and First Avenue West.

Bill Goldberg and Montana Hotel Development Partners are seeking a conditional use permit for a parking structure and for a building over 60 feet high, which is the height limit allowed as a use by right. The building is planned to be eight stories or about 88 feet tall.

The planning board meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Avenue East.

The site is currently a surface parking lot. The proposal calls for about 240 parking stalls on four levels with commercial uses on the ground floor. On the upper floors of the building, 78 residential units are planned.

The project has come out of a request for proposals for the development of city-owned property at the corner of Third Street West and Main Street. The city advertised for proposals in 2020 and one project, named The Charles Hotel, was submitted by Montana Development Partners and provides for the transfer of the city-owned lot on Main to the company for the purpose of constructing a five-story boutique hotel.

The hotel requires valet parking and to meet that requirement, 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, but also 69 spaces to replace those in the existing parking lot on First and First, 43 to replace those lost to the hotel and an additional 40 spaces for future parking demand downtown, according to the city planning report.

Though part of a larger plan, the planning board will forward a recommendation to City Council only on the CUP requested for the parking structure and height of the building.

The city growth policy land use map designates the property as commercial.

“The proposed project fits within both the general historical use pattern and the anticipated future development in the downtown area,” the staff report notes.

In terms of the building, the application says the main floor is designed entirely around the pedestrian experience with retail and lobby spaces wrapping the first floor parking and providing an interactive experience. The brick facade with large storefront windows is expected to pull “elements from classic urban design principles like those shown on Main Street.”

The maximum height for a building without a CUP is 60 feet. The building is requesting an extra 28 feet, which would allow for the residential component of the project along with aesthetic considerations, planning staff notes.

The application says that the architectural design of the building is intended to mitigate the visual impacts of the additional height. The building could be constructed to stay within the 60-foot height, but that would reduce the amount of housing or eliminate some of the design features such as building setbacks and courtyards.

Without them, the “result would be a shorter building that is perceived as more massive,” the application says and also wouldn’t be able to give consideration to making the building fit the historic context of the area.

Planning staff is recommending approval of the CUP with nine conditions.

ALSO ON the agenda, the planning board will take public comment on requests from both the Morning Star Court Community and the Green Acres Court Community on applications to the Montana Department of Commerce for grant funding for water and wastewater improvement projects for both communities.

The board also will consider a request from Green Acres Cooperative for annexation and initial zoning designation of R-4 residential for a property located at 1721 South Woodland Drive. The annexation is to allow the property to be connected to city sewer due to a failing septic system for the existing mobile home park.

The board will hear a request from Loucas Scholer and Sarah Russell for annexation and initial zoning designation of R-4 residential for two properties at 2150 and 2152 Airport Road. The annexation is to allow the properties to connect to city water due to a failing well.

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