Loading...
05-11-10KALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 11, 2010 CALL TO ORDER AND The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and ROLL CALL Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were: Bryan Schutt, John Hinchey, Rick Hull, C.M. (Butch) Clark, Chad Graham, Richard Griffin and Troy Mendius. Sean Conrad, P.J. Sorensen, and Tom Jentz represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were approximately people in the audience. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Hinchey moved and Clark seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the March 9, 2010 meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission. ROLL CALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. PUBLIC COMMENT No one wished to speak. WILLOW CREEK AMENDED A request by Trigon, Inc. to revise the approved subdivision, PLANNED UNIT Planned Unit Development (PUD) and modify several conditions DEVELOPMENT AND of approval for the Willow Creek subdivision. The revised project PRELIMINARY PLAT proposal includes a total of 471 lots, 397 single family residential lots and 74 townhouse lots. The lots range in size from a 2,400 square foot townhouse lot to approximately 17,600 square foot single family residential lot. The proposed revisions would create a primarily single family residential subdivision as opposed to the mix of residential uses their previous project included. In addition to modifying the housing type and lot design the developer would like the city and Montana Department of Transportation to review an updated traffic impact study which takes into account the future completion of the alternate truck route. The completion of the alternate truck route may reduce the amount of off -site street improvements the current Willow Creek conditions of approval require the developer to complete. The revised project also removes the main nortb/south street through the subdivision and realigns two access points proposed on Foys Lake Road. The Willow Creek subdivision is zoned R-3 (Urban Single Family Residential) with a PUD overlay zoning district and is located on the north side of Foys Lake Road generally between Valley View Drive and Learn Lane. The subdivision's eastern boundary is located along the alternate truck route right-of-way for Highway 93. From its eastern boundary the subdivision site continues west just under V2 mile along Foys Lake Road and ending at the eastern boundary of the Stoneridge subdivision. Ashley Creek makes up the northern boundary of the project site. The subdivision site encompasses approximately 140 acres. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 1 of 16 Board Member Hull recused himself from the discussion due to a conflict of interest. �l Sean Conrad representing the Kalispell Planning Department reviewed staff report KPUD-10-01 & KPP-10-01. Conrad reviewed the vicinity map for the Amended Willow Creek PUD and Preliminary Plat. In 2007 this project was annexed into the city and given an R-3 zoning with a Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay. The 2007 approved site plan included 531 residential units, which included 8- 16 Alex apartment units, 361 residential lots, 42 townhouse lots, open space park area along Ashley Creek with a 200 foot setback from the creek, landscaping features along Foys Lake Road, 2 parks interior to the project site and a bike/pedestrian path and parks. The major proposed amendments to the PUD include the realignment of the 2 access streets onto Foys Lake Road which amended the approved direct route through the subdivision which would have served as a north/south collector street; changes to parks and open space; the elimination of condominium units and the net reduction of 60 units overall; and townhouse development around the parkland. Although this development proposal drops the residential number of lots by 60, staff felt the changes warranted holding another public hearing before the Kalispell City Planning Board and review by the Kalispell City Council. Conrad reviewed the following concerns with the PUD site design: • Landscaping and final grading along Foys Lake Road; • Future housing on steep lots; and • Depth of fill material in certain areas of the project site. Conrad said he wanted to touch on the Rails to Trails crossing issues. As a requirement of the PUD plan the developer is required to provide an access street from the subdivision north to Highway 2. In order to do that he is going to have to cross the current Meridian bike path. There are 3 government entities involved in the trail discussion, the City of Kalispell, Flathead County who has the easement and the Montana Department of Transportation. The agencies met to discuss the trail crossing and decided an at -grade crossing with traffic calming and signage including a manually activated crossing light would be required. Conrad added this condition reflects the minimum standards for such a crossing based on the county's input on standards required as part of the CTEP program that paid for the trail. At the April planning board work session several of the planning board members heard from the Rails to Trails Committee and Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 2 of 16 requested the developer meet with the committee to help resolve the trail crossing issues. Conrad reported that yesterday the developer met with the committee along with city and county staff members and issues were brought up on both sides. However, Conrad added there was no final resolution on the type of crossing that should be required. Conrad said the staff report does indicate the Rails to Trails Committee fully supports a separated crossing with a bridge but that was not agreed to by the developer. Conrad introduced Paul Burnham and Rebekah Hahn, city engineers who are in attendance to help answer any questions the board may have. BOARD QUESTIONS Griffin asked if the 12 foot fill was approved in the existing PUD and Conrad said there was going to be cut and fill but he didn't know the depth. Griffin said as he read the conditions there is a retaining wall maximum height of 3 feet with 4 feet of vegetation and another 3 feet of wall, etc., and he noted on the hillside where the road has been cut it will take a number of the 3 foot walls. Griffin asked if there were any drawings that would show what that would look like in that area. Conrad responded the cuts were interior to the subdivision and not the area where the road was cut. Conrad said based on the grading plan there will be some significant topography and the developer is required to meet the 3 foot retaining walls but the slopes are steep and it will require, in his opinion, a significant redesign in order to meet that condition. Griffin said he is trying to draw a comparison between what has been approved and what the proposed amendments to this project are now and he asked what percentage of the project is being changed. Conrad said approximately 20% and he described those areas of change. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL Hubert Turner, President of Trigon, Inc., the developer of Willow SUPPORT Creek addressed Mr. Griffin's question on retaining walls and said the grade where the road has been cut is very misleading and it will be graded back to a 10 to 15% slope and then level out to a flat spot so it will not be a retaining wall issue. Turner agreed that roughly 20% of the subdivision has changed. Turner said as far as the cut and fill it was not included in the previous submittal because they are at a much higher design level now than they were when the previous proposal was submitted. When it was approved in December of 2007 there was still a year to 18 months of engineering work to do before they could break ground. They are now about 2 weeks away from resubmitting engineering plans to the city. Turner said the primary reason for the fill is to facilitate the wastewater flow out of the site to the north and there needs to be a Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 3 of 16 1 significant amount of fill added to the area for the system to work. That fill project is on -going and is under the supervision of 2 engineering firms to ensure that compaction is being achieved and settling won't occur in the future. He said he has a high level of confidence in the fill compaction and he would build his house on the fill areas. Turner continued regarding the buffering along Foys Lake Road, they have increased the setbacks significantly in the new plan in order to eliminate the need for any retaining walls. When they did that they didn't anticipate the size of the stormwater retention facilities that would be necessary in order to make this project work so they are currently developing a redesign to better facilitate those slopes. They were informed last week that slopes greater than 30% will not be allowed in part of the subdivision and they are working hard to eliminate the need for retaining walls. Turner said when the engineering plans were submitted to the city for the eastern access road the city indicated the location was not acceptable and that the location would have to be moved approximately 300 feet to the west. The topography of that location didn't work so they elected to move it 900 feet west of the original location. Because of its close proximity to the western access proposed that access was also moved further to the west. Turner continued because of the bypass coming on line it negated the necessity for a through roadway as originally designed but would still allow for traffic to flow from Foys Lake Road through the subdivision eventually to Highway 2. The second major problem that was discovered in the engineering phase was along the eastern boundary of the subdivision they had allowed for a 60 buffer between the subdivision and the bypass to construct noise mitigation berms. However they were informed that there was not enough room and the buffer had to be increased to 110 feet. The lots were reconfigured to accommodate these 2 major changes. Turner said regarding the streetibike path crossing they are proposing a regrading of the bike path to create an at -grade crossing. They had not anticipated traffic calming or other recommendations however they do not have any problem with providing the crossing as described in the conditions. They feel the crossing will be safe and he stated it will exceed the minimum standards. The only question they have is who would pay for the electricity for the lighting facility at the crossing; he added he would assume it would be paid by the city or county. Turner asked for the ability to respond to any issues brought up during the public hearing. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 4 of 16 Hinchey questioned the calculations of slope on lots 439, 440, & 441 which he estimates at a 30 foot rise. Turner said his instructions to the engineer were that no lot in that area should be greater than 15% and if Hinchey's calculations are right that will be corrected. Turner said as far as steep lots to his knowledge there is one lot that exceeds a 20% grade and the only one that exceeds 15%. Schutt asked what Turner meant about being a few weeks from final engineering and Turner said they had submitted a set of engineering plans to the city and have received the city's comments and it will take another few weeks to address those comments. PUBLIC HEARING Richard Siderius, President of Rails to Trails stated he resides at 395 Auction Road. Siderius provided a brief history of Rails to Trails and this trail in particular to the board. It took 26 years to build the first 2 miles of this trail. It is a very popular trail and is used by old and young alike. Because of the significant use of this trial the Rails to Trails organization opposes a city street crossing the trail with an at -grade crossing. The biggest concern is safety and a direct crossing will lower the level of service for both the city street and the trail users. Their suggestion is that the bike trail go over the proposed street and a bridge be installed that will not only be safe but will also serve as a very nice entrance into this development. Al Sorensen, 76 Scarborough, stated he agrees with Mr. Siderius. The Rails to Trails path system is a park and after that park is established a developer is proposing to come in and build a road across it. If a developer was going to put a road through Woodland Park it would not be allowed even if the minimum safety requirements were expected to be met. Even though this trail doesn't compare to Woodland Park it is a park and was developed before this subdivision. His concern is not at day one when development begins but in the future when the volume of traffic will increase. There have been a number of discussions and everyone feels, some strongly, that the bridge is the preferred alternative. Steve Anderson, 150 Lakeshore Drive stated he uses this trail between Meridian and Dern Road and he supports the statement made that the majority of use occurs the first 2 miles. He feels there should be some sort of separation between the city street and the trail. He is aware that there are a number of roads and driveways along the trail to Kila; however those crossing points were in place long before the trail was built and are consider an acceptable risk. Many younger children and elderly people use the first 2 miles because of the fact that there are no major road crossings for the first 2 miles and it is important to keep it that way. Phyllis Snow, 66 Stonecrest Drive stated she served on the original Rails to Trails board and she is a trail volunteer. She feels the trail should have a bridge. The trail between Meridian Road and Dern Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 5 of 16 Road is a highly desirable stretch of trail for many users. It is accessible for children walking to Peterson School, the school uses the trail for school activities, the trail is close to town, it has parking on both ends, and is still largely rural and very park -like. She used examples of people with small children, disabled and the elderly who use the trail and asked what will happen to them when they reach this crossing. The maintenance of the street in the winter is also a concern. Snow said she thought the easement was theirs and others would have to fit in with them, which hasn't happened. She doesn't feel the Turner's have worked with Rails to Trails like they should have. She is upset that the beautiful Ponderosa pine tree along the trail may be obliterated. It is a part of their park and is the only mature tree along this section of trail. Snow said let's rework this idea and get a bridge out there. Ashley Grassa, 72 Rockwood Road stated she is the Vice President for Literacy Volunteers of Flathead County and the 5K Race Director. This year will be the 5th year for the 5K and when they were looking for an area to plan an unbroken stretch of 2.3 miles the only place was the Rails to Trails Meridian Trail. It is beautiful, tourists use the trail for the scenery; it is a good fundraiser and if they have to stop at a stop signs to continue a race, who has the right-of-way, the runners or the cars. About the only other running area would be on the highway. Grassa said she would like to preserve an unbroken trail to hold races and other outdoor events. Another point is that a lot of small towns have running areas along rivers and streams and Kalispell should too. Patrick Thomas, 175 Lakeshore Drive stated he is in opposition to this subdivision. He is opposed to the extensive increase in traffic to Meridian Road. It is already bumper to bumper during peak hours and he asked what kind of traffic volumes would there be on Meridian with full build -out of a subdivision this large — 2000 additional trips per day. The infrastructure does not seem to be in sync with this type of growth. Thomas said he is concerned about the access onto Foys Lake Road because it looks like a major percentage of traffic from this development will dump onto Foys Lake Road and asked if a traffic light at that intersection has been considered. He is also concerned about the impact to the school system, the impact to property values because it seems to be a major blight on the landscape, and a project of this size needs the expertise of architects, landscape architects, engineers, civil engineers and realty specialists. He added it doesn't appear to be properly planned out. Horace Sanders, 161 Oxbow Trail said he has been with Rails to Trails for quite a few years. It comes down to safety and kids. The city has standards for crossings and this one is an A-1 crossing now and has to be kept at an A-1. The only mitigation that would be appropriate is a bridge carrying the trail over the street. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 6 of 16 Julie Robinson, 955 Foys Lake Road asked for clarification of where the exit onto Foys Lake Road is going to be. She is concerned that the access is across from her driveway and safety. If that issue isn't taken care of there will be a large number of vehicles using the road through the subdivision to avoid using Meridian Road. She feels the intersection of this road and Foys Lake Road should at the very least have a traffic light. Alex Hogle, Flathead County Planning & Zoning Office stated he provided comments on the trail crossing which were included in the board's packets. Hogle said the letter discusses the minimum requirements that the county feels must be adhered to if the trail is reconstructed whether at an at -grade crossing or if a bridge is determined to be the best solution from a city perspective. He reviewed the standards that that address safety for running length of trail as well as for crossings. An adequate at -grade crossing that is constructed and designed correctly can be very safe. The second part of his letter includes additional recommendations that are specifically intended to promote a further level of safety, primarily visual including traffic calming design in the street that would create a narrowing and slowing of traffic; a stamped colored concrete crossing that would be more visible both to site and texture than a painted striped crossing; as well a recommendation to include a pedestrian activated light signal. Hogel suggested using solar lighted signs which would lower the cost for operation. Schutt asked if the trail standards are ASHTO standards and Hogle said the trail construction itself in terms of sub grade compaction and then the bituminous layer of asphalt would need to comply with the ASHTO standards. The CTEP program defaults towards those standards. In terms of safety features and considerations the standards that are applicable are the ADAAG standards that require a running length for CTEP funded trails to not exceed a 5% grade. In the exception where there are slight occurrences where that grade cannot be met they do have requirements for ramping that could allow a trial to go up to 8%. It does appear that the design that is currently proposed does demonstrate that the trail could be reconstructed to fall below the 5% maximum for the running length and it appears to be reasonable. Clark asked if the county is recommending an at -grade crossing and not a bridge and Hogle said the county is not opposed to a bridge but it is not recommending that a bridge be required. Hinchey said so the county is only concerned with meeting the minimal standards and Hogle said no, at a minimum the minimum standards must be met. It is anticipated that the design requirements of ASHTO and ADAAG are geared towards an acceptable level of safety. These are national standards designed specifically for that, he added. Hinchey asked if the standards make a distinction between a driveway crossing and a street crossing as opposed to a collector street crossing and Hogle Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 7 of 16 said they do not. Hogle said there is room for discretion however and the county understands the city may have other perspectives and might make a different decision but the county feels as far as their recommendations go they need to be clear that at a minimum the grades must fall within that acceptable range and in addition the county has requested additional items that actually go above and beyond minimum requirements. Sonal Frickle, 110 Ashley Hills Drive stated she bought her home about 3 years ago based on its location near the trail system. After a year of enjoying the trail she now volunteers with Rails to Trails and supports making the trail system bigger than it already is. Frickle said she completely agrees with the fellow trail users and volunteers who spoke previously. Although it does concern her that a new development is being considered in these tough economic times one point that she wanted to make it is a selling point for the town of Kalispell and preserving it and ensuring the safety of the users is very important. Torn Esch, 4 Meridian Court stated from their office they can see the development as it is taking place and he is also a weekly trail user. Esch said he is grateful to the planning board for their volunteer work in making hard decisions like this and to the Rails to Trails volunteers. Esch also noted he represented the Turner's on their behalf when the government took their land away and they had an arbitration to determine the fairness of their compensation. He added is not representing the Turner's today. Esch said the current trail route has changed with construction of the bypass and will be routed differently after the bypass is constructed. Esch suggested instead of having the trail routed to reconnect after it goes under the bypass it should connect with the proposed trail within the Willow Creek subdivision and then access the original trail via the trail along the future city street, Plymouth Crossing. Esch said the question is should the crossing be at -grade, above the grade, or below the grade. The recommendations from the city and county staff are to comply with the standards as they are set. If you go beyond that what standards are used to apply the decision? Esch supports the at -grade crossing and one of the concerns he has with a bridge is in order to have the 5% grade you would have to bring the edges of the bridge further back. The intersection where the road meets the bike path is also a way to get on the bike path if there is a bridge it makes access to the trail more difficult. He also noted a bridge is an attractive nuisance for criminals to drop things on vehicles; and an underpass is difficult to maintain and a safety concern. If the crossing is at grade you won't have those problems. Esch continued the city, in the previous plat, required the developer to have an alternate access to the north and he isn't sure that Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 1.1, 2010 Page 8of16 additional access is necessary especially with the bypass round- about giving the driver the ability to go north or south. At the work session there were concerns about Meridian Road and the traffic problems but the traffic has already been changed because of the closure on Appleway and that will change a lot more when the bypass is completed. Esch said the board could consider removing the requirement of a northern access road .which would remove the need to cross the trail with a city street. But if that crossing will be maintained use the standards that the staff has imposed and make the rules the same for everyone and leave it at -grade. MOTION - PUD For discussion purposes Schutt moved and Hinchey seconded a motion to adopt the findings in staff report KPUD-10-01 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the PUD for Willow Creek be amended subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Graham asked if the Parks and Recreation Department agreed to set up a parks maintenance district and how will that be funded. Conrad said there would be a parks maintenance assessment on all the lots within the subdivision, the city would own the parks and then maintain them. Conrad further explained how this currently works with other subdivisions where the open space areas that is aesthetically important to the project and in the event the homeowners association (HOA) fails to maintain it or if for some reason in the future the HOA folds then the city can determine if the area needs to be maintained for the function of utilities or aesthetics and can require additional fees from the lot owners to take care of that. Griffin added normally with an HOA they are already assessing each homeowner for maintenance of parks, for plowing, etc. Clark noted at the work session the board recommended that Mr. Turner meet with Rails to Trails as soon as possible. What has happened since that request and Conrad said the work session was held April 13th and he called Mr. Turner the next day to review the major issues brought up at the work session including the recommended meeting with Rails to Trails. Conrad then followed up with a letter addressing those points again. Early last week Mr. Turner came into the office and presented the conceptual cross - slope of what the at -grade crossing would look like. Turner told Conrad he had talked to the county about whether or not the proposed at -grade crossing was acceptable and asked city staff to forward the information on to Rails to Trails. Conrad added he encouraged Mr. Turner to go to the Rails to Trails meeting that was scheduled last week but instead Turner requested that Conrad set up a meeting with Turner, city and county staff and representatives of Rails to Trails to be held after the Rails to Trails meeting. That meeting was set up and held yesterday, May 10, 2010. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 9 of 16 Graham noted the difference in grading of the stormwater retention area from 2007 and the new proposal, which is much steeper. Graham asked what their proposed solution is because he doesn't think the retaining walls will work. Turner said the 2007 plan did not propose grading but showed some conceptual ideas but the design level was not anything close to final. Turner said as far as being able to meet the grades with retaining walls he isn't sure that is possible either and his solution would be to redesign the stormwater retention pond. Schutt asked Turner why he feels an at -grade crossing at the bike path would work and Turner said he heard the board's urging that he meet with the Rails to Trails as soon as possible. Turner said immediately the next morning he talked to his engineer instructing him to redraw the plans for the trail crossing to better meet ASHTO, CTEP and safety standards so that would be available. Turner said it took 10 or 11 days to get that accomplished. Then he tried to set up a meeting with Mr. Hogle at the county but unfortunately due to a death in Mr. Hogle's family he was unable to meet with Turner until Monday of last week. After he met with Mr. Hogle he was then in the city planning office asking that a meeting be set between Turner and Rails to Trails and the earliest that Rails to Trails could meet with him was yesterday morning. Turner said his rationale for an at -grade crossing is to preserve as much of the existing trail as is there while still keeping a reasonable handle on the safety issue. As a number of people have said most of the trail use takes place on the first 2 miles before Dern Road. He suggested creating a closed 2 mile loop without having to cross a roadway. As far as the rationale for the at -grade crossing Turner continued, they have been able to balance the safety issue against a cost issue in the best manner possible and they welcome the county's conditions to promote safety at this crossing. Turner said it meets a test of reasonability as to what could be expected. If the board disagrees with him he would ask that rather than simply requiring a bridge that the board discuss options for a separated grade crossing. Mendius said referring to the Foys Lake Road frontage issue he is not trying to micro -manage the project but asked if Turner, as the developer, has considered the elimination of 13 lots numbered 459- 471 which would buy a lot more space in order to create a gentler grade and solve a number of obvious problems. Turner said they did consider that but he added it would decimate the first phase of the project. Turner added there are some other options that he would like to explore first including redesigning the stormwater retention pond as mentioned previously. Schutt noted Turner mentioned that he was trying to address to city's requests for the final engineering and he wants to know Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 10 of 16 exactly what is being approved and is this issue still in a state of flux. Turner responded the one stormwater pond along Foys Lake Road is still in a state of flux. Clark said if the developer was planning to propose a redesign of the bike path why wasn't it brought up at the work session instead of at the public hearing and Turner explained he had not yet received the proposed conditions of approval which would require the portion of the bike path be constructed with the 5th phase of the subdivision at the same time Plymouth Crossing'would need to be constructed. The conditions would also require the trail connection where the bypass is redirecting the trail. The conditions of approval if adopted would also modify their phasing plan. Hinchey said he agrees with the possibility of eliminating the lots. Turner indicated he wanted to study that some more in the hope of maintaining more of the natural grade in that area by taking out the western half of the pond. Hinchey said when he was on site yesterday the road is already being cut and the natural grade is already gone. Turner said he is referring to the grade between Foys Lake Road and the road that is being constructed and he explained further. Hinchey said he doesn't see how a 10% grade will be achieved on the lots on the other side of that road. Schutt asked at full build out what are the traffic volume predictions for Plymouth Crossing. Conrad said approximately 1300 vehicle trips per day. Schutt asked for comparison traffic counts on current streets and Conrad said in the Kalispell 2006 Transportation Plan Update it lists 0 Avenue East/Hedges School area at approximately 1700 vehicle trips per day; Conrad Drive near Woodland Park approximately 10,000; Woodland Avenue has 2100; and Foys Lake Road is about 4,000 vehicle trips per day. Schutt asked if Plymouth Crossing would be classified as a collector street and Conrad said in the 2007 submittal Plymouth Crossing was classified as a collector but that was before we knew when the alternate truck route would be constructed. Clark noted the board knew the alternate truck route was going through there in 2007 and that was considered in the board's review. Conrad added we knew the route was going in but we didn't know when it would be constructed. Clark said if the alternate route was built he would still want a collector road through this development and now it has been eliminated. Conrad said there is still a road being proposed up to Highway 2 West but the design is different. Burnham said the design of the road in the original 2007 proposal was a collector from Foys Lake Road to US Highway 2 West. The new design functions more like a residential street. It will draw people out of the subdivision so they do not have to use Foys Lake Road but can go up to US Highway 2 West. Schutt said what is a comparable road and Burnham said we do not have a lot of similar Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 11 of 16 L collectors but there was one recently built in the Silverbrook subdivision north of town. It restricts access somewhat, not allowing driveways on that road, it provides for a higher speed, and concentrates the traffic and moves it out of the subdivision. Griffin said it is his understanding that road would not be constructed until phase 5 and Conrad said that is correct and that requirement was based on the number of lots per phase and the recommended improvements in the Traffic Impact Study. Griffin asked when is the projected date for phase 5 and Conrad said based on the application package fall of 2012. Schutt said he spoke with Bob Ablien, the author of this traffic study and they agreed they are dealing with a traffic situation that has a couple of unknowns; the timing and build out of this subdivision and not knowing how the west side alternate truck route will affect traffic on the larger scale and specifically on .Meridian Road. The conclusions of this study is that a majority of eastbound traffic, either coming out of Willow Creek or down Foys Lake Road that wants to go north will use the alternate route, but the percentage is unknown. Schutt added based on the traffic study he is willing to reconsider requiring the north/south road at all or at least until they see how the bypass works and what the impacts really are. Eliminating that north/south access road would also relieve the issue of the bike path crossing. Hinchey disagreed and said connectivity is important and if you take out the Plymouth Crossing connection that makes a captivated subdivision that is forced out at Foys Lake Road. Hinchey said he would be opposed to eliminating the north/south street requirement. Schutt asked Burnham to explain the reason the north/south road was recommended. Burnham said the original plan was to have the north/south road even though the alternate truck route was being considered. This north/south road then appeared to be a solution to move traffic and keep some traffic from having to use Foys Lake Road and Meridian Road which would ultimately cause those roadways and intersections to fail. Now that we have timeline on the alternate truck route he thinks the question is do we still need the north/south street and the one constant that still remains is Foys Lake Road. If you look at the current traffic on Foys Lake Road — 4,000 vehicles trips per day — Willow Creek subdivision. at build - out would essentially double that number. Taking Meridian Road out, taking the alternate truck route out there is still an impact on Foys Lake Road without that connectivity. The north/south road is still a solution for traffic congestion or increased traffic on Foys Lake Road. Schutt said what sort of exit requirements do we have for a Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 12 of 16 C� J subdivision and Burnham said in subdivision where there are 20-40 residential lots there needs to be a second access which is part of phase 1 of Willow Creek. Both of these access roads will be onto Foys Lake Road at that time. Jentz said there isn't clear information or a specific number threshold when the 3rd approach should come in. Jentz continued when this came through in 2007 the alternate truck route was still a good dream, the phases were much larger, and the impacts to Meridian Road could have been catastrophic and therefore the recommendation was to require the 3rd access road to the north in phase 1. Today the landscape has changed because of the alternative truck route construction where we will be able to drive on it before Thanksgiving and the phases are now much smaller. Clark said he has a hunch that people will be taking the alternate truck route and dropping off at Foys Lake Road to get to the downtown area and he thinks Meridian Road will be loaded and not relieved from the alternate truck route. Jentz said the traffic study recommends reanalyzing the traffic impacts with each phase because trying to figure out human behavior is a real wild card. Hinchey said back to the Rails to Trails crossing, it looks to him that Plymouth Crossing, after it leaves Ducksberry Loop drops down to the crossing of Ashley Creek which is pretty steep and you will have to climb quite a bit to get back to the trail. Hinchey said it seems logical that the climb would be a little less steep if you put in a simple bridge. It looks like a smoother grade from the creek to Highway 2. Turner said he hadn't thought about lowering the road only raising the road. Turner continued that culvert crossing is planned to be raised approximately 6 feet from its current elevation and the reason is to provide cover over the water and sewer pipes that will be serving Willow Creek. Turner said so that will create a challenge and whether it is insurmountable or not he doesn't know. Schutt asked for an approximate elevation difference between the creek crossing and the Rails to Trails crossing and Clark said he estimated about 15 feet and added Rails to Trails has a rise coming to the west where the grade could be continued. Clark said he doesn't see why the street couldn't go under the trail and adding a nice pedestrian bridge would solve the problem. Schutt asked if the developer's engineer could provide a brief analysis of that option and Turner said the culvert crossing is approximately 550 feet to the south of the trail crossing. In order to anticipate future grades and not impact other property owners, once the road crosses the trail it is adjacent to property that he doesn't own so they have to be sensitive to that. Lowering the road could be an option and he said the elevation difference between the culvert crossing and the trail crossing is approximately 7 feet where the road will go uphill about 7 feet. Turner said the current plan is Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 13 of 16 to bring the trail down about 6 feet and to bring the roadway across the culvert up about 6 feet. Turner said the challenge would be trying to match grades on the north side of the trail with the adjacent property owners and still achieve the water and sewer coverage over the culverts, which is necessary, but they can take a look at that. Hinchey said it seems there is a solution there that hasn't been explored. Turner said all they are talking about doing as far as lowering the trail is moving that grade change further to the west and leveling it out some. Turner said their road where it crosses the trail is almost even with the trail when it starts that incline. Griffin said he feels very uncomfortable with this Rails to Trails issue not being resolved and he felt when he left the work session that this issue was going to be a high priority for the developer and Rails to Trails and they would come to a reasonable solution. He has heard some alternatives that possibly could be a reasonable, relatively non -expensive solution. Griffin said he doesn't want to and isn't capable of re -engineering the crossing but there has to be a point where although it won't meet 100% approval on either side it will be enough for everyone to walk away without blood on the shield. Griffin said he doesn't feel comfortable making a recommendation tonight. Turner said the meeting to try to resolve this issue was held yesterday and at that meeting it was clear people there were adamant that there would be a grade separated crossing. Turner said he doesn't feel that is appropriate. He as the developer has gone to reasonable lengths to ensure safety at the crossing and Rails to Trails disagrees and unfortunately we have not been able to come to an understanding about this issue. Turner added the resolution to this issue will more than likely have to come from the planning board. Griffin said that is unfortunate because he for one will support the 3rd access to the north because he feels it is absolutely essential for a subdivision with 500 homes. Clark summarized the issues raised at the hearing noting that the Turner's had failed to adequately address some of the key points of the 2007 approvals and this makes it extremely difficult to move forward on the 2010 application. For example the lack of a collector road that accesses Highway 2, the lack of proper aesthetic treatment along Foys Lake Road, the stormwater design that detracts from the overall subdivision, and Clark questioned the timing of moving ahead with earth moving prior to final approvals. MOTION TO TABLE I Clark moved and Hinchey seconded a motion to table the Willow Creek project indefinitely. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 14 of 16 BOARD PRESIDENT ASKED Schutt asked for a distinction between tabling to a specific date and FOR CLARIFICATION tabling indefinitely. Jentz said to table to a specific date it comes back up at that point and discussion will continue. To table a project indefinitely it remains on the table until some issue or factor is present to bring it back up and either way it will require a motion from the board to take it off the table for reconsideration. There is no discussion after a motion to table unless the motion fails. ROLL CALL I The motion to table the Willow Creek project indefinitely passed on a roll call vote of 6 in favor and 1 opposed. OLD BUSINESS: I None. NEW BUSINESS: Conrad noted there are three conditional use permits on the June planning board agenda: An expansion of the Faith Free Lutheran Church on Liberty Street; an expansion & 16. unit addition for the Buffalo Hill Terrace/Immanuel Lutheran complex; and an expansion of the Faith Covenant Presbyterian Church on 3rd Avenue East and 6d' Street. In addition Conrad said there is another issue in the community for the Freedom House on 3rd Avenue West which staff has requested they submit a conditional use permit application for a group home but no application has been submitted and staff is still in discussion with the city attorney on how to address their facility. Jentz said there are no additional work sessions scheduled for June, July or August but if there is enough time for a work session to be held after a regular meeting it will be scheduled. Griffin asked what planning projects are still pending city council review/approval and Jentz noted the annexation policy recommendations and the zoning ordinance update. Beginning in the fall the planning board will be discussing the update of the Growth Policy document and the subdivision regulations. Jentz noted the board received a draft memo to council and attachments on the annexation policy. Jentz reviewed the memo for the board. Depending on the council's decision the annexation policy will come back to the planning board for public hearing and then forwarded on to council for approval. Jentz said in light of the summer months almost upon us would the board be interested in starting the meetings at 6:00 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m. for the months of June, July and August and although the earlier start may be a slight problem for board member Mendius the board agreed to start the meetings mentioned above at 6:00 Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 15 of 16 Clark said because of the construction season being slow is the board's new schedule going to preclude a project from moving forward and Jentz said no there are no major developments out there. Griffin asked if Bloomstone is moving forward and Jentz said not at this time. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30 p.m. WORK SESSION Due to the late hour the scheduled work session was not held. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission is scheduled for June 8, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the Kalispell City Council Chambers located at 201 First Avenue East in Kalispell. The next work session of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, O10 immediately following the regular meeting (if time ows). Bryan H. Schutt President APPROVED as submitted/corrected: &Pp -/ 10 Michelle Anderson Recording Secretary Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of May 11, 2010 Page 16 of 16