Kalispell approves restrictions for park facilities use

Kalispell City Council on Monday approved three ordinances that place restrictions on parks facilities usage.

Following some debate, Council signed off on the ordinances that would limit an individual’s “excessive personal property” at public facilities, ban the erection of structures on public property and limit the time an individual could use covered park structures without a permit.

The ordinances were proposed by the city after numerous public complaints about drug and alcohol consumption, public urination and the accumulation of waste by a number of homeless people who had been gathering in the Depot Park gazebo during daylight hours.

The city last month shut down the gazebo and Woodland Park’s pavilion indefinitely while the council weighed the ordinances.

Council on Monday chose to amend the cumulative time limit to 150 minutes per day for the use of a park structure, rather than the 90 minutes per day that had originally been proposed. Some councilors said they didn’t feel 90 minutes was enough for certain appropriate uses of park space.

The ordinance setting the time limit was approved unanimously, while Councilor Sid Daoud and Councilor Ryan Hunter were the only votes in opposition to the other two ordinances.

At the council’s last work session on Jan. 23 to discuss the ordinances, the debate turned into a four hour community discussion around homelessness.

At Monday’s meeting, City Manager Doug Russell said that homelessness is a “very complex issue.”

“If it were easy, the homeless situation across the board, it would have been resolved,” Russell said.

Councilor Jed Fisher supported the ordinances, but said that he thought they would lead to an increase in public complaints and calls to the police which would have the effect of “encumbering important law enforcement duties.”

“I think you’re going to have a bunch of lone rangers out there timing people,” Fisher predicted.

“You’re going to get lit up,” he said to police Chief Doug Overman.

Russell disagreed, predicting that the ordinances would preemptively stop disturbing or illegal activity.

“I do not think this will increase their call load,” Russell said. “In fact, my guess is that it will go down.”

Several councilors, including Chad Graham, raised concerns that the ordinances would “ensnare…average people more than it would those violating them.”

“I don’t think that would impact the general public,” Russell said. “I don’t think we’re getting too many people using our covered park structures for over 90 minutes. I don’t think we’re having the general public coming in with, you know, the complaints we’re hearing about: shopping carts, luggage. I don’t see that occurring by the general public.”

Councilor Ryan Hunter said he feared public complaints about ordinance violations would be used to target homeless people specifically, who he described as “the most stigmatized population in our society.”

“A parent with a stroller, a tourist with a large pack, a person stopping to rest on a public bench with groceries, or a homeless person with their possessions may all be in violation of this ordinance,” said Hunter. “We all understand that it is the homeless person who is likely to generate complaint calls to the police.”

Violations of the ordinances could result in a fine of up to $300 for the first offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses.

If Council approves the ordinances at their next meeting on a second reading, they will go on the books 30 days later.

COUNCIL ALSO voted unanimously to set a C-PACE district. As a result, Kalispell businesses will be able to take part in the state’s C-PACE program, which was established last year.

C-PACE is a capital investment financing program designed to help commercial property owners pay for energy-efficient upgrades using the money saved through decreased energy consumption.

Also on the agenda, Council approved a resolution supporting a grant application to the Montana Department of Transportation for a multi-use path connection on the north side of Four Mile Drive at the west end of the Kalispell Youth Athletic Complex and a resolution issuing bonds totaling $1.7 million to fund the acquisition, construction, and equipping of a sewage lift station.

Council also confirmed firefighter/paramedics Cody Butler, Jacob Brinlee, Zachary Lanz and John Mellencamp to the fire department.

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at 758-4407 or aknowler@dailyinterlake.com