Kalispell Planning Commission to consider residential developments

The Kalispell Planning Commission will consider two proposals for residential and commercial developments in Kalispell on Tuesday.

The board will discuss the plans during its regular meeting on Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.  

Planning staff is recommending that the commission approve a proposal from Todd Gardner and Colton Behr for a commercial, industrial and residential development south of Kalispell.  

The Gardner/Anderson Ranch planned unit development would carve out about 95 acres of land adjacent to U.S. 93 and south of Lower Valley Road. Two portions of the land, at a combined roughly 38 acres, will require annexation into the city. That property will be withdrawn from the South Kalispell Rural Fire District.     

The proposal includes construction of a distribution center at the northeast corner of United Drive, according to the staff report.  

The developers are proposing a single-family home residential area along Demersville Road and commercial area at the east side of United Drive and between United Drive and Lower Valley Road.  A conceptual plan calls for 170 homes on 30.8 acres, according to city documents.  

Most of the land is undeveloped and designated for urban-mixed use development, according to the staff report. It is near a residential neighborhood to the east.   

Planning staff concluded the proposal complies with the Kalispell’s growth policy.   

The staff report noted that development in the area would likely increase traffic because of its location off U.S. 93. 

ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT that the board will consider comes from Kilday and Stratton, a Bozeman-based development, construction and consulting firm. 

The company is applying for preliminary approval of an 8–acre subdivision to continue developing Starling Community, a roughly 58-acre residential mixed-use development approved by Kalispell City Council in 2021. 

The area sits on the west side of Stillwater Road between Four Mile Drive and Old Reserve Drive, near to Glacier High School and the recently constructed Stillwater Crossing multi-family housing complex.  

The company is in phase four of eight in its planned development. The desired land contains 31 lots, a park and open space, according to the report.  

Staff deemed the development in line with the city’s growth policy, which encourages varying housing types, including multi-family housing.  

A traffic study conducted by Abelin Traffic Services determined that increased traffic on the surrounding road network will not require any additional road construction or improvement.  

Jack Underhill can be reached at junderhill@dailyinterlake.com and 758-4407.