11/04/02 City Council MinutesA REGULAR MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 7:00
P.M. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2002, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL
IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. MAYOR PAMELA B. KENNEDY PRESIDED. COUNCIL
MEMBERS JIM ATKINSON, BOB HAFFERMAN, RANDY KENYON, DUANE LARSON,
FRED LEISTIKO, HANK OLSON AND JAYSON PETERS WERE PRESENT. COUNCIL
MEMBER DON COUNSELL WAS ABSENT.
Also present: City Attorney Charles Harball, City Clerk Theresa
White, Finance Director Amy Robertson, Fire Chief Randy Brodehl,
Police Chief Frank Garner, City Manager Assistant Pati Heath and
Tri-City Senior Planner Narda Wilson.
Mayor Kennedy called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
AGENDA APPROVAL
Peters moved approval of the Agenda. The motion was seconded.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
CONSENT AGENDA APPROVAL
1. Council Minutes - Regular Meeting October 21, 2002
Leistiko moved approval of the Consent Agenda. The motion was
seconded.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
Mayor Kennedy welcomed Boy Scout Troop 1933.
STUDENT ISSUES
Ryan Nalty, 181 Riverside Drive, announced there will be a Junior
Formal Dance at the High School on November 23. He said the
Sophomores are in the process of adopting families for Christmas,
and he asked the Council to look into the parking problem and the
lack of parking spaces at the High School.
Kayla French, 669 West Valley Drive, asked for volunteers to judge
the speech and debate competitions scheduled for November 22 and
23. She also asked for help with the parking problem at the High
School.
HEAR THE PUBLIC
Bill Franks, 159 Arbour Drive, informed the Council that a
Kalispell Business Owners Association has been formed and its
purpose is to represent the interests of Kalispell business owners
Kalispell City Council Minutes
November 4, 2002
Page 1
on issues directly affecting their businesses and to ensure the
appropriate spending of their tax dollars. He said the first
question posed to members was whether the City of Kalispell should
pay for the legal expenses incurred by the Flathead Alliance for
Sensible Growth in their lawsuit against the city. Franks said the
response was if you play, you pay and the result was 100 percent
voting no.
Cheryl Pierce, 1015 Ashley Drive, stated she opposes any new
annexations or zoning until a new growth policy is in place.
Dale Peirce, 1015 Ashley Drive, also commented that all zoning
should stop now, adding there is no emergency that exists which
requires the adoption of interim zoning regulations.
Lila Kruckenberg, 1204 Sunnyside, read a letter to the Council
opposing interim zoning regulations. (Letter is attached and by
this reference is made a part of the official record)
ORDINANCE 1438 - INTERIM ZONING REGULATIONS
This ordinance implements Interim Zoning Regulations for the City
of Kalispell until a growth policy can be adopted. Ordinance 1438
was tabled at the meeting October 21st.
Leistiko moved Ordinance 1438 be taken from the table. The motion
was seconded.
There was no discussion.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
Harball explained that staff is presenting Council with a two -prong
approach to the issue. He said Ordinance 1438 is the first prong
and ratifies those actions taken by the City Council since October
lst, 2001 and supports those developers who have acted in good
faith. He said the second prong is Resolution 4750, which gives
staff directions and guidelines to use when dealing with developers
on all new requests.
Kenyon asked what will happen if the Council doesn't pass Ordinance
1438.
Harball answered the Council is possibly leaving some individuals
in the lurch who have acted in good faith and have asked for land -
use decisions.
Kenyon responded that the Council could still act on "non -
substantive" issues whether Ordinance 1438 is passed or not.
Harball said they can, however, no one can agree on what's
substantive or non -substantive and the Attorney General didn't
Kalispell City Council Minutes
November 4, 2002
Page 2
provide an outline. He said the City's professional planning staff
can help the Council make findings on what it believes is
substantive or non -substantive.
Hafferman commented he has tried to figure out why the City needs
this ordinance, but he's not convinced there's an emergency. He
said the Council should "plead" with the Planning Board to have a
growth policy ready by the end of this month for approval by the
Council before Christmas.
Leistiko remarked he still feels the Council did the right thing by
moving ahead with decisions after October 1st and it's not the
City's fault that the Attorney General took eleven months to render
an opinion. He said all of the cities in Montana are having the
same problem and he doesn't feel it would be responsible to "shut
Kalispell down" until a growth policy is adopted. Leistiko
encouraged the Council to vote in favor of Ordinance 1438.
Atkinson said the City was left in the lurch when the County
Commissioners refused to sign the City -County Growth Policy
forwarded to them. He said the Planning Board, of which he is a
member, is meeting every Tuesday evening and is committed to
getting a City Growth Policy completed by January. Atkinson said
until that time, however, the City needs these interim zoning
regulations.
Peters said the Council does need to honor the decisions already
made, however, from this point forward the City needs to heed the
opinion of the Attorney General and not take any action until a
growth policy is adopted.
Harball said that's why the staff has presented a two -prong
approach. He said Ordinance 1438 looks backward, and Resolution
4750 looks forward.
Larson spoke in favor of the ordinance stating he feels the Council
owes it to the people who have made commitments in the community to
ratify the decisions made since October lst.
Kenyon commented he's still having a hard time understanding how an
emergency exists requiring the passage of this ordinance.
The motion carried upon roll call vote with Atkinson, Larson,
Leistiko, Olson, Peters and Mayor Kennedy voting in favor, and
Hafferman and Kenyon voting against.
RESOLUTION 4750 - ESTABLISHING CRITERIA FOR THE KALISPELL ZONING
ORDINANCE
This resolution establishes criteria for determining the difference
between substantive and non -substantive zoning revisions.
Kalispell City Council Minutes
November 4, 2002
Page 3
Leistiko moved Resolution 4750, a resolution to establish criteria
for the determination of the substantive verses non -substantive
revisions to the Kalispell Zoning Ordinance and declaring an
effective date. The motion was seconded.
Harball explained Resolution 4750 allows the Council to give staff
and the public guidance in what it terms substantive and non -
substantive revisions to the zoning ordinance.
Leistiko said it appears to him that the Council will still be able
to determine whether an issue is substantive or non -substantive
even without the passage of this resolution.
Harball said the staff is trying to avoid an individual review of
each case by setting some standards.
Resolution 4750 outlines non -substantive revisions as: annexation
or rezoning from a residential category of zoning to another
residential category; annexation or rezoning from a commercial
designation to a commercial designation; or annexation or rezoning
from within the same or similar use category. Substantive revisions
are listed as: annexation or rezoning from an agricultural to
residential, commercial or industrial category; annexation or
rezoning from a residential to commercial or industrial category;
or changes to the text that would allow uses not otherwise
permitted or similar changes.
Hafferman commented these substantive and non -substantive revisions
should be included in the growth policy. He said he feels the
Council is digging a hole deeper and these should be hashed out
before the public.
Larson stated he agrees a change from one city residential
designation to another city residential designation is not
substantial, but he asked if a change from county residential to
city residential could be.
Harball answered the city and county designations don't match
exactly, but they're pretty close and would not be considered
substantive.
Olson said he agrees with Hafferman and feels the Council needs to
stop here. He said if this resolution doesn't pass, then the
Council gets to look at everything that comes forward.
Atkinson remarked that if the Council looks at everything that
comes forward, the Council will be violating the Attorney General's
directive that you can't pass zoning that is substantive.
Harball commented that without defining the terms, the Council is
risking arbitrary decisions. He said without a set of standards,
he would suggest the Council not consider any revisions.
Kalispell City Council Minutes
November 4, 2002
Page 4
Larson agreed, stating if criteria is not established, then every
substantive or non -substantive decision the Council makes is just
a wild guess until a growth policy is adopted..
Peters said he would agree if the city is planning to move forward,
however, he's urging the Council to place a moratorium on all
zoning issues until a growth policy is approved.
Wilson asked for clarification. She said a Planning Board meeting
is scheduled for November 12 with two items involving subdivisions
in Glacier Village Greens that are currently zoned County R-5.
Wilson said the request is for annexation and zoning to City R-4
and asked if these are the kind of applications the Council doesn't
want to consider until a growth policy is approved.
Mayor Kennedy thanked Wilson and said she thinks that's exactly
what the Council is trying to resolve this evening; those issues
that are already in the "hopper". She said according to the City
Attorney, no zoning issue should be considered without substantive
and non -substantive criteria.
Atkinson said in the last year, twelve annexations came before the
Council. He said in his opinion, the Council has to move forward
and set some standards on how to move forward.
Wilson commented without standards, it's a "crap shoot" for every
applicant that walks through the door and a lot of money spent. She
said it would be a cleaner and fairer process for the Council to
establish criteria if it wants to continue reviewing applications.
Kenyon said he feels uncomfortable voting for this resolution
because he doesn't know enough about zoning and it seems capricious
to pick arbitrary standards. He said he's not convinced there
couldn't be substantive changes within each zoning category.
Mayor Kennedy clarified that if Resolution 4750 fails, the Council
would be essentially placing a moratorium on annexations and zoning
until a growth policy is adopted.
The motion failed on a tie vote with Atkinson, Larson, Leistiko and
Mayor Kennedy voting in favor, and Hafferman, Kenyon, Olson and
Peters voting against.
FINAL PLAT - BUFFALO COMMONS - PORTIONS OF PHASES 3 AND 4
Northwest Healthcare Corporation has requested final plat approval
of a nine -lot subdivision in the Buffalo Commons development
containing approximately 6.7 acres.
Larson moved Council approve the final plat for Buffalo Commons,
portions of Phases 3 and 4. The motion was seconded.
Kalispell City Council Minutes
November 4, 2002
Page 5
Wilson reported the six lots to the west are in the area designated
for Retail -Commercial -Office uses, and the other three lots to the
east are in the area designated as Professional Medical Facilities.
Larson asked if the locations for the fire hydrants have been
approved.
Chief Brodehl said the hydrants have already been installed.
The motion carried unanimously upon vote.
MAYOR/COUNCIL/CITY MANAGER'S REPORTS
Larson inquired as to the status of the sledding hill in Dry Bridge
Park.
Harball said he spoke with Parks and Recreation Director Mike Baker
about that this morning and Baker indicated the hill will be open
for sledding if enough snow falls.
Larson also asked what happens to the leaves once the City picks
them up.
No one present could answer the question so Mayor Kennedy asked
Heath to check into it.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
ATTEST:
Theresa White
City Clerk
Approved November 18, 2002
Kalispell City Council Minutes
November 4, 2002
Page 6
I would take issue in particular with 2 areas of the resolution 4750 altho my belief is
interim zoning at this point is moot.Failure to have a growth policy in place as it should
have been a long time ago does not create an urgency except for this city council and city
manager who have failed to do their job. If you pass this resolution the city of Kalispell
will be in trouble big time There seems to be no clarification of the Attorney General's
opinion for the City Council I am sure a judge will clarify it for you some where down
the line. The growth policy should have been in place 13 months ago to cover the many
annexations and zone changes which may have been done illegally Some one needs to
step up to the plate and take responsibility. This could be a very costly mistake for the
city of Kalispell. I believe that a zone change from county RI to city R4 is a substantive
change, county RI will allow one dwelling per acre and if I understood staff correctly at
these meetings one can build up to 12 dwellings per acre on property zoned R4. Eleven
more dwellings per acre is not a substantive change. Give me a break!
Lila Kruckenberg
1204 Sunnyside Drive
Kalispell, Mt., 59901
Phone 755-5887