Kalispell City Council to hold hearing on proposed public participation plan for future development

Kalispell City Council will hold a public hearing Monday on the municipality’s proposed public participation plan for property development, necessitated by last year’s passage of the Montana Land Use Planning Act by the state Legislature.

Council will meet Monday at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E., at 7 p.m. For more information on how to attend or participate, including remotely, visit: www.kalispell.com/agendacenter. 

Also known as Senate Bill 382, the act is aimed at fast-tracking development, particularly housing, across the state by streamlining the process at the municipal level. Public communication and engagement will now be front-loaded, with residents having a say in overarching city land use plans, but fewer opportunities to engage or object as individual projects move through planning boards and city councils. 

The act applies to municipalities with 5,000 or more residents in counties with populations exceeding 70,000.

“If developers come in with a project that meshes with our plan and regulations, that’s just done administratively,” City Planner PJ Sorensen told Council at its March 4 meeting. 

Kalispell’s draft plan calls for informing residents about updates to its land use plan, and zoning and subdivision regulations via legal notices, press releases, social media updates and its website. It also recommends city officials engage residents via public meetings, meetings with community groups, surveys, Planning Commission worksessions, open houses, charrettes and by making themselves available at public events. 

“The scope of and opportunity for public participation and comment on site-specific development that is in substantial compliance with the land use plan is limited only to impacts or significantly increased impacts not considered in the land use plan, zoning regulations, or subdivision regulations,” the draft public participation plan reads. “The opportunity for the public to be engaged comes with the process establishing the plan and regulations, not with review of a site specific project.”

The city Planning Commission recommended the plan to Council following public hearings earlier in the year. Following Monday’s public hearing, Council is expected to take action on the proposed plan at its April 1 meeting.

COUNCIL WILL perform a second reading for the annexation of an abandoned right of way and lot at 520 Lenwood Lane and along the east property line of 51, 55, and 75 Woodland Park Drive in preparation for a possible apartment complex.

The project is known as Woodland Park Apartments as is being spearheaded by TTC Investments LLC, Scoreboard Sports Bar LLC and Mitch Tormohlen.

Upon annexation, the area will be zoned neighborhood business. Though previously submitted public comments raised concerns with congestion, city staff determined that the annexation and zoning are consistent with the goals of Kalispell’s growth policy. 

COUNCIL WILL also confirm officers Tyler Daniels, Michael Miller and Seth Garner to the Kalispell Police Department, marking the completion of their probationary periods.

Lastly, Council will consider at the request of Mayor Mark Johnson the appointment of Brandon Brookshire to the board of the Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District with a term expiring April 30, 2027. 

In his application, Brookshire, who is assistant general manager at Hilton Garden Inn, stated that he sees joining the board and becoming more involved in the tourism business improvement district as beneficial to the city, hotel and himself. 

Reporter Carl Foster can be reached at 758-4407 or cfoster@dailyinterlake.com.