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02-11-92 Planning BoardKALISPELL CITY -COUNTY PLANNING BOARD AND ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 1992 CALL TO ORDER President Therese Hash called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. AND ROLL CALL Board members present were Therese Hash, Mike DeGrosky, Pamela Kennedy, Jeff Ellingson, and Robert Lopp. Absent board members were Larry Dominick, Mike Fraser, Jim Stephens, and Virginia Sloan. There being a quorum, the meeting proceeded. APPROVAL OF Hash called for approval of the minutes of the January 14, 1992 MINUTES meeting. Lopp moved that the minutes be approved as published. Kennedy seconded; all members present voted to approve the minutes as published. STATUS OF Hash then called on Lisa Rice of the Flathead Regional Development KALISPELL Office to give a status report on the Kalispell Airport Neighborhood AIRPORT Plan. Rice displayed several maps depicting the existing land use NEIGHBORHOOD in the area around the airport. Current costs of improvements, such PLAN as lengthening the runway, were presented. These costs do not include land acquisition. It would cost approximately $120,000.00 to lengthen and improve the strip. The fencing would be $9/linear foot, for approximately 11,308 feet. A lighting system would be approximately $18,000 to O $20,000 installed. Staff is still tracking down costs on such things as asphalt sealing, insurance, security lighting systems, annual maintenance. Rice has conferred with Ray Costello, who is with the Aircraft Owner and Pilot Association. There is a possibility that the. airport may be eligible for some FAA funding. Previously, this airport was not eligible to get any FAA funding due to its close proximity to Glacier International Airport. Apparently, there are some new FAA rulings which would allow FAA funding. It would be a 90%-10o split. The staff would need to investigate this further. Further information can be sought from representatives of the State Aeronautics who will be in Kalispell on February 13, to attend an airport user's workshop. Also, it was indicated that if the City and County will keep this airport open, it could be eligible for a grant to conduct a feasibility study. Staff is still working on some base maps which will be presented at next month's meeting, as well as, the conceptual land use plan for the city owned property. Greer gave background information to the Board regarding the existing and proposed land uses of the city -owned properties shown in the conceptual plan, based on the assumption that the City will work to keep the airport open rather than closing it. The Board discussed the existing land uses of the area, and proposed n uses of City -owned property. Ownership of surrounding properties was clarified and discussed as to future use. A narrative of policies will be available by next month's meeting. Safety concerns were discussed, such as lengthening the runway and upgrading the approach lighting. Greer cited a 1979 Plan which offered a number of recommendations relative to safety. Lengthening the runway would bring the airport up to Federal Standards. DeGrosky asked if these upgrades would increase use or enhance safety, or both? Greer responded that there was no discussion of increased use, just improved safety. The property owner who owns the land at the end of the runway was in attendance at the meeting. He expressed his willingness to trade or sell his land to the City. A member in the audience offered a definition of FAA specifications in response to questions of the Board regarding possible funding from FAA. The City would like to see the airport become self-sustaining and operational on its own. At the present time, the City cannot afford to maintain and improve the runway anymore. The airport does have a manager. The Airport Plan will be subject to public hearing. An FRDO survey to gauge local feelings regarding the airport indicated the residents are in favor of keeping the Airport open. Kennedy asked if we were looking at some zone changes in that area? Rice explained what changes could be incorporated as part of the plan. Zoning for highway frontage was discussed. The bulk of this information and proposed guidelines for this area will hopefully be presented at next months meeting. VIDEO Hash called for the next item on the agenda; to show a video entitled PRESENTATION: Zoning, For Aesthetics. Greer recommended that the video be shown ZONING FOR at the end of the meeting. The Board agreed. AESTHETICS COUNTY ZONING Hash then called for a report on County zoning in the Kalispell IN KALISPELL Planning Jurisdiction. Greer explained that for the last seven PLANNING years, the County has been zoning around the city limits of JURISDICTION Kalispell. Under statute, the City could zone three miles -outside - the city limits, but the County Commissioners chose to do County zoning outside the city limits rather than city zoning. The City - County Planning Board and zoning commission jurisdiction goes about 4 1/2 miles outside the city limits. About 4-5 years ago, the staff developed a map that the County Commissioner had to approve, which identified areas experiencing the most growth, and prioritized those areas for zoning. Greer delineated the planning jurisdiction on the map and pointed out the areas which are presently zoned. Approximately 20 sections in the jurisdiction is not zoned. This explains why there are some diverse uses in some areas surrounding the city. The County has proposed to implement some interim zoning _ for a period of two years, while more permanent zoning can be put linto place. This Board will be responsible for making recommendations to the County Commissioners for the area within its planning jurisdiction. FRDO cannot make these recommendations. It has to come from this Board. A public hearing will be scheduled in March on this interim zoning. Refinement of the interim zoning will 2 C) be done during the next two years. The interim zoning for the County, except for the more urbanized areas, will conform to the Master Plan, which indicates agriculture use for most of the county. Growth will be directed toward population centers, as reflected in the Master Plan. The staff will have a recommendation for this Board by next meeting. The Board discussed the Master Plan. A comment from the audience expressed an understanding that a soils survey which had been done indicated that some areas'were better suited to industrial use rather than for agriculture. Greer affirmed that the soils report is one thing which is looked at in making recommendations for industrial use. Permanent zoning in the county will evolve from performance type zoning. Lopp asked what changes may be anticipated in the Master Plan if the BN tracks were pulled out? Greer explained that some plan amendments could be implemented as interim amendments and changes could be incorporated to the Master Plan in the two year period, if the demand or need arises.. The Plan can change as sewer and water systems become available. All amendments to the Master Plan are subject to public hearings and approval by the City Council and County Commissioners. Questions and discussion ensued regarding the area where FVCC is located. There was no further discussion on the County Zoning. OLD BUSINESS Hash called for any old business. Greer announced that the second public hearing on the proposed Kalispell Zoning Ordinance, brought forth little opposition. The first reading to adopt the Ordinance has been held. The second reading will be on Feb. 17. Few changes were made to the ordinance. One was that now city conditional uses will go through the Planning Board rather than the Board of Adjustments. Most discussion involved the chapter regarding the sign ordinance, where the most changes had been made. Kennedy gave an overview of the results of the public hearing regarding the sign ordinance. The Council is still receiving pros and cons to the sign regulations. Explanation of the sign regulation language was clarified, and discussed by Board members. There will not be a public hearing at the second reading. Although more comments are coming in, it would not be advantageous to hold up the ordinance any longer. The entire City Zoning Ordinance needs to be put into effect, which will be 30 days after the second reading. The Board further discussed what signs were allowed in the sign ordinance. The existing signs have 6 months to comply with the ordinance. -� DeGrosky asked if a review would result from public input? Kennedy responded that there would be public input if there was a recommended change. There would have to be some strong information presented in order to make a recommendation for change in the ordinance, and it would have to go through -the public hearing process, again. Discussion followed on how aesthetics cannot be a W n J reason for zoning. Greer then summarized the parameters of the sign ordinance for the Board. Discussion ensued on what is "grandfathered" in. Changes in the "grandfather" clause are pending. The county has gotten more flexible, while the city has gotten more restrictive. Also under old business, a question was brought up at last month's meeting regarding the Rules on Voting. The President votes last, does not have to vote, and definitely votes to break a tie. The President can also vote to create a tie in order to kill a motion. The Goodman_ zone was change passed by the City Council. The annexation of Sunset Addition will go before the City Council on March 17, 1992. There was no further old business. NER BUSINESS Hash then called for new business. DeGrosky asked if it would be desirable for the Board's jurisdiction to go beyond Rose Crossing? Discussion followed on the jurisdiction boundaries for Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell. This is a decision which must be made by the City Council and the County Commissioners. This Board could encourage that by making a motion for the record. This could be discussed at the March meeting. Other new business, Mary Adkins is resigning from the Board of County Comnissioners, and another Comni.ssioner will be chosen by the remaining two. Lopp asked about the potential conversion of O'Neil's sawdust mill to a golf course. Kennedy gave an overview of what the City has discussed regarding Buffalo Hill Golf Course and proposed golf courses, as well as the future of the railroad through the City. Discussion followed. There was no further new business. Due to poor audio reception on the video, Zoning for Aesthetics, the Board decided not to watch it. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. 8L:,- - L Ili, Therese Fox Hash, President APPROVED: Elizabeth Ontko, Recording Secretary