Kalispell City Council OKs Immanuel Lutheran senior living expansion project

Kalispell City Council on Monday gave the green light to the expansion of a senior living community along with several other requests from developers.

The proposed addition to Immanuel Lutheran Communities’ senior housing and nursing home facility campus on Crestline Avenue consists of 40 new units bordering Ryder Road. As the project calls for a building height of 68 feet, which is more than allowed under the property’s existing zoning, it requires a conditional use permit from City Hall. 

The Kalispell Planning Board lent its support to the request following a November public hearing. Critics, though, have raised concerns over parking, construction and building height. One resident spoke out against the project before Council on Dec. 4, largely focusing on concerns about the project’s financing. 

Councilor Sid Dauod noted that Council’s focus when fielding these requests is on city standards and regulations.

“What we are doing here is approving a conditional use permit related to the height and the addition to the existing building,” he said as Council approved the request.

Council also debated the annexation and zoning of 52 acres owned by Dusty Acres LLC for potential suburban residences, which expands the city boundaries and opens the door to future development in the area. 

“I always have a little bit of heartburn when we’re going up toward Silverbrook,” Councilor Ryan Hunter said.

Still, Hunter ultimately lent his support to the project and noted there were as yet no plans for a development on the 52 acres yet. The measure passed unanimously. The only public comment came from representatives of the developer.

COUNCIL FOUND that the final map of the second phase of the Stillwater Bend subdivision project meets the city’s standards to allow for construction to begin on 30.5 acres of property west of U.S. 93.

Tucked on the banks of the Stillwater River, the undertaking is expected to ultimately add 432 multi-family homes designed in a dense, urban style to the city.

Questions of feasibility arose when city staff alerted Council to the need for a bridge and road connectivity over Stillwater River to the west of the property, as the fire code requires two different access points for such subdivisions. 

PJ Sorensen, senior planner for the city, said no decision has been made about whether the city or the developer would be responsible for the bridge. Stillwater Development Partners, the firm behind the project, are limited to building 100 units until there are two access points, he said.  

Councilor Jessica Dahlman worried about the riparian setback from the riverbank, which designers shortened in places from the recommended 200 feet to 100 feet, but emphasized their intent to revegetate the bank, which was formerly farmland. 

“If it comes down to voting for this or the river, I’m going to vote for the river,” she said.

Councilor Chad Graham agreed with the developer’s intended improvements and highlighted the influx of housing.

“I’m going to vote to house people,” he said.

Council voted to grant the project a planned unit development overlay and preliminary plat for phase two of the project with Hunter and Dahlman opposing.

Council’s final two development-related agenda items were in regards to Owl Corporation’s Westview Estates project. The firm filed its request for final plat approval on phases six and seven of a project that received preliminary plat approval in the summer of 2021.

Hunter raised concerns about urban sprawl owing to the project’s lot sizes, but later relented and voted with his colleagues to approve the final plat. Located on 17 acres north of Taelor Road, the phases are expected to include construction of 34 single family homes.  

COUNCIL CONFIRMED Nihcole Petersen’s appointment to the Architectural Review Board and officer Michael Frame to the Kalispell Police Department following the conclusion of his one-year probationary period.

Frame has previous experience at the Missoula County Detention Center, which has come in handy, wrote Police Chief Jordan Venezio in a memo to City Manager Doug Russell.

“Officer Frame has quickly become a valued member of the team who is always willing to go the extra mile for the citizens of Kalispell,” Venezio added. “His calm demeanor, professional approach and quiet confidence are his greatest strengths.” 

“This is my first badge-pinning ceremony,” said Graham, who welcomed Frame and thanked him for the work he had already done with the Police Department.

Reporter Carl Foster can be reached at cfoster@dailyinterlake.com.