Kalispell City Council OKs two residential and commercial developments

Kalispell City Council gave the development of two residential and commercial areas the green light during Tuesday night’s meeting.  

The Gardner/Anderson Ranch Planned United Development will carve out 95-acres for residential, industrial and commercial uses south of Kalispell. Two portions of land, at a combined roughly 38 acres, will be annexed into the city.  

The allotted land sits adjacent to U.S. 93 and south of Lower Valley Road.  

The Anderson Ranch area, which lies to the east of the allotted land along Demersville Road, is zoned for residential development.  A conceptual plan calls for 170 single-family units on roughly 31 acres with around 4,500-square-foot lots.  

The land was originally designated for multi-family housing, but developers switched to single-family housing. 

“We’re really looking at an entry level, starter type home that could have rents that would capture that local market, kind of that workforce housing that we are struggling to get in town,” Eric Mulcahy, a land use planner at Kalispell-based Sands Surveying Inc., said on Tuesday.  

Within the Gardner-owned land zoned for industrial and commercial use, a distribution and fulfillment center is expected to go up on the northeast corner of United Drive. Proper fencing or hedging around the area is required to meet city noise reduction standards.  

Councilor Ryan Hunter was hesitant to support the industrial development due to its location in South Kalispell, which acts as the city’s entrance to tourists.  

"I've always envisioned future development down there as more mixed use, more pedestrian friendly,” he said while acknowledging the need for industrial use in the city.   

Councilor Kari Gabriel said she trusted the developer's decision to designate the area as single-family.  

“I finally feel like we are at the point where we don’t need any more multi-family housing until we fill what we have,” she said.  

Councilors Sid Daoud and Jed Fisher were in support of the development. Fisher said that development on the south end of the city is long overdue to take pressure off development in the north side of town.  

“I see this as perfect case scenario for this area,” he said. “Nobody can sit here and say affordable these days, but hopefully it is something that can keep our kids here.”  

COUNCIL ALSO approved the fourth phase of development within the Starling Community, a roughly 58-acre residential mixed-use area approved by the body in 2021.  

The land sits on the west side of Stillwater Road between Four Mile Drive and Old Reserve Drive, near Glacier High School. 

Kilday and Stratton, a Bozeman-based development, construction and consulting firm, was approved to continue developing on an 8-acre subdivision containing 31 lots and a park, road and open space.  

During an Aug. 13 Planning Commission meeting where officials presented the staff report on the proposed development, residents of the Starling Community voiced frustrations with loud construction work performed early in the morning and into the night. 

Sorensen said on Tuesday that there was discussion between landowners and the developer through their homeowner’s association on how to address the concerns.  

PAUL TRAVIS, executive director of the Flathead Land Trust, asked Council for a letter of support in the local nonprofit's effort to purchase 1,110 acres of land south of Heron Park. 

The Flathead Land Trust, which works to conserve Northwest Montana’s land and water through agreements with private landowners, is in partnership with the Trust for Public Land and the Foys to Blacktail Trails Organization, which will assume long-term ownership of the desired land.  

Travis said the trust and its partners’ objective is to purchase a conservation easement on the property, “permanently prohibiting subdivision and development while complementing the existing recreation and habitat management that occurs on adjacent lands,” he said.  

The land is owned by the Griffith Family Foundation, which Travis said the trust and its partners have been in conversation with for over a year. 

Private ownership of the property will be maintained, according to Travis, allowing current and future landowners to manage the land for forest and recreational uses.  

The land protection organizations plan to submit a grant proposal through the Forest Legacy Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant program aimed at encouraging the protection of privately owned forest lands through conservation easements and land purchases.  

According to Travis, the project has been supported by the Flathead County Commissioners, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.  

“This property has critical importance to the community of Kalispell,” Travis said.   

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