Columbia Falls zone change request put on hold

A Florida developer’s request for a zone change in Columbia Falls has been put on hold again.

Developer Rishi Kapoor of Location Ventures has scaled back the request from a zone change of agricultural to residential on 113 acres east of Columbia Falls across U.S. 2 down to just 12 acres — land that his company owns.

As such, a public hearing that was set for the May 10 Flathead County Planning Board has been postponed until June 14, said county planner Erin Appert.

The property is just north of the Big Sky Waterpark. It’s currently zoned Suburban Agricultural 10. The zone change request would ask for R-1 on the 12 acres.

The initial zone change included a large portion of the Wilkinson Ranch, which is to the north of the property.

This is the third time the zone change request has been put on hold.

In April, Kapoor asked Columbia Falls City Council for a zone change on 22 acres east of the Flathead River Bridge. In that proposal, he sought a zone change from CSAG-5 and CSAG-10 (Suburban Agricultural) with a 5- and 10-acre minimum lot size to a proposed zoning of CR-4 (Urban Residential) zoning.

Council denied the zone change, as Kapoor had planned 180 units for the property and there were concerns about traffic safety and the environmental sensitivity of the area, as about half of it was wetlands.

That parcel was in the city’s planning jurisdiction. The 12 acre parcel is in the county jurisdiction.