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02-09-26 City Council Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL K"r' �` WORK SESSION MINUTES ALISPELL February 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. City Hall Council Chambers, 201 First Avenue East Video of this meeting with time stamped minutes can be found at: https://www.kalisi)ell.com/MeetingVideos. A. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hunter called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. B. ROLL CALL Council Member - Kari Gabriel: Present Council Member - Sam Nunnally: Present Council Member - Jed Fisher: Absent Council Member - Sid Daoud: Present Mayor - Ryan Hunter: Present Council Member - Wes Walker: Present Council Member - Lisa Blank: Present Council Member - Kyle Waterman: Present Council Member - Dustin Leftridge: Absent Staff present included City Manager and Development Services Director Jarod Nygren, City Clerk Aimee Brunckhorst, Assistant Development Services Director P.J. Sorensen, and Planner II Donnie McBath. C. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Hunter opened public comment. 00:01:04 Tonya Horn, Executive Director of the Flathead Warming Center spoke regarding opening for their seventh season and shared they have helped 24 guests move into housing and 7 individuals to enter treatment. She spoke further about the staff of the Center, services they provide, the need within the community, and the goal they share with other service providers. She asked that people shift the conversation and focus on where the homeless can be to get the help they need and not where they should not be. She invited Council Members to visit the Warming Center and said she will send a video about the services of the Warming Center. Public comment received in writing to the Mayor and Council can be seen at www.kalispell.com/publiccomment. 00:05:07 Seeing no further comments, Mayor Hunter closed general public comment. D. DISCUSSION Page 1 of 7 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 9, 2026 1. Montana Land Use Plan &a Mayor Hunter and City Manager Nygren spoke regarding the process for reviewing and editing the draft plan. 00:07:31 Assistant Development Services Director P.J. Sorensen began the staff report. 00:08:36 Council Member Waterman asked whether there is a difference between the terms pathways and trails regarding the vision statement. 00:10:05 Broad Vision Statement 00:09:48 Council Member Walker asked where acknowledgment of the Native population and their history in the area can be added. Council and staff spoke regarding possible edits to the brief history section of the document. Sorensen went over the table of contents within the document. 00:13:37 Sorensen reviewed the introduction to the document. 00:14:08 Brief History of the Kalispell Area Sorensen spoke regarding this section of the document on page 11. He explained some of the text was taken from the 2018 growth policy plan. Sorensen explained this would be a good area to add information about the historical use of the area by Native Americans. 00:15:59 Chapter 1: Existing Conditions and Population Projections. 00:17:45 Council Member Blank asked about the population baseline utilized, the growth projected and the flexibility within the plan if the growth estimation was off. Sorensen spoke regarding the Planning Department continually reviewing the plan and the ability to initiate change as needed. 00:20:29 Mayor Hunter spoke to comments sent by Council Member Leftridge via email as he was not able to attend today. He asked about the possibility of a graph that could show different growth percentages and highlight the percentage we anticipate. 00:22:32 Manager Nygren provided discussion about how the type of information requested might be modified. 00:23:38 Sorensen spoke further regarding population projection methodology on page 17 of the document. He then spoke regarding developments that have been approved and not yet built. 00:27:18 Sorensen spoke to the importance of acknowledging the impacts of other adjacent areas and the influx of infrastructure demand from non-residents and tourists using the city. Page 2 of 7 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 9, 2026 00:28:41 Chapter 2: Community Growth & Design Sorensen provided an overview of this chapter. 00:30:25 2.3 The Land Use Plan Area Sorensen spoke regarding the differences between the three areas within the land use plan - City Limits, the Annexation Boundary, and the Land Use Planning Area. 00:32:07 2021 American Community Survey: Industry- Occupation - page 24 Census tracks and jobs within categories. 00:32:56 Vacant Lands Map within the Annexation Boundary Sorensen explained this map explaining there is availability for the market to develop additional parcels within the annexation boundary with about 2, 500 acres of vacant land within city limits. 00:33:42 Zoning Percentages — pie charts on page 26 00:34:31 Mayor Hunter provided discussion about the large amount of space that exists for growth within existing city limits. 00:34:49 Council Member Blank spoke regarding multiple public comments received regarding wanting increased density within the city and discouraging sprawl outside of the City and whether the City could affect County development. 00:35:35 Sorensen spoke to core policies in the existing growth policy and continues in the land use plan to encourage growth where we already have services and to where development already exists so density can happen with sewer infrastructure compared to septic use. He spoke further about historical planning efforts and related density and annexations. 00:38:32 Residential Zoning Use Designation Charts Sorensen provided information on the charts provided. 00:38:40 2.5 Future Land Use Map Sorensen reviewed these paragraphs. 00:39:59 Council Member Walker asked about transition zones. Sorensen spoke regarding the use of transition zones. 00:41:43 Mayor Hunter provided discussion about clarity regarding transition zones. 00:43:01 Staff spoke further about transition zones and provided specific examples and expanding the language for clarity. 00:44:10 Council Member Daoud provided discussion regarding transition zones and density and how that affects the character of a neighborhood. 00:46:06 Mayor Hunter and Council Member Waterman provided further discussion about what transition zones mean and managing expectations. Page 3 of 7 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 9, 2026 00:47:29 Manager Nygren spoke further regarding density and transition zones. 00:48:03 Mayor Hunter spoke regarding future land use and wanting to see several paragraphs calling out the benefits of compact development to the taxpayer related to compacted infrastructure and the health benefits of compact, walkable communities. 00:49:39 Sorensen talked about looking at where that type of information 00:49:20 Mayor Hunter referred to comments emailed by Council Member Leftridge on this section related to tying goals and policies back to mixed use centers and corridors. 00:49:54 Sorensen spoke further to the bullet points within section 2.3 Future Land Use. 00:50:12 Sorensen spoke to a question posed by Council Member Walker about industrial uses and talked about related zoning and the rail park. 00:51:49 Manager Nygren expanded on the importance of industry in the city, a diverse tax base and the need to add a component related to planning and encouraging light industry. 00:52:28 Council Member Walker provided discussion about encouraging diverse industry. 00:52:34 Mayor Hunter provided discussion regarding data centers. 00:53:27 Sorensen spoke to state legislation that went through related to that type of use. Staff will send a link to state legislation passed related to data centers. Council and staff talked further about concerns and considerations related to data centers and similar industries that may impact resources. 00:58:54 City Manager Nygren spoke to the importance of the growth boundary and annexation boundary. 00:59:32 Sorensen spoke further regarding bullet points within section 2.5. 01:00:40 2.6 Conservation Easements 01:00:54 2.7 Annexation and County Coordination Sorensen talked regarding coordination that happens between the city and county and fostering that. 01:01:58 2.8 General Growth and Designs —page 30 Sorensen spoke to issues called out in this section. 01:03:02 Sorensen spoke to goals called out in this section. — page 31 01:03:34 Council Member Blank asked about public comments related to dark sky and creating development that complements the Glacier National Park dark sky designation. Page 4 of 7 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 9, 2026 01:04:43 Sorensen explained the city does have a dark sky ordinance and related zoning answering further related questions. 01:07:05 Council and staff talked further about lighting and the balance between shielding light and security and safety interests. Council expressed interest in discussion related to lighting. 01:12:20 Page 3 1 - item 4 Sorensen spoke further to the goals listed in this section. 01:13:28 Policies — page 31 Sorensen spoke regarding the policies listed within this section. 01:15:02 Recommendations — page 32 Sorensen spoke regarding the recommendations listed within this section. 01:15:11 Mayor Hunter spoke regarding item 4 related to infill housing and emphasizing that infill can be more than what is listed. 01:16:50 Sorensen continued reviewing recommendations. 01:18:32 Chapter 3: Housing Sorensen began reviewing the introduction to Chapter 3. 01:19:02 3.2 Existing Housing Conditions Sorensen reviewed this section and explained the maps provided. 01:20:10 Manager Nygren explained these maps are available in larger sizes. Sorensen spoke further about maps provided. 01:21:29 3.3 Housing Market Dynamics and Affordability Sorensen reviewed this section. 01:22:32 3.4 Population Growth and Housing Demand Sorensen reviewed this section and the charts provided. 01:23:26 3.5 Land Capacity and Zoning — page 44 Sorensen reviewed this section and the conclusions reached. 01:24:12 Council Member Walker asked about mixed use redevelopment being in the core area. Council spoke regarding mixed use development versus redevelopment. 01:26:02 Median Household Income Chart — page 46 01:26:23 Mayor Hunter spoke regarding the comments sent by Council Member Leftridge. 01:27:11 Council Member Waterman spoke regarding the importance of housing studies and adding that distinction into this section. Page 5 of 7 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 9, 2026 Staff spoke regarding the Pro Housing Grant. 01:29:21 Mayor Hunter and staff spoke regarding entitlement city planning as that entitlement comes at the 50,000-population point. 01:30:59 Public Comment Mayor Hunter opened public comment on this item. 01:30:29 Carole Jorgenson Jorgenson spoke on behalf of the Flathead Audubon Society highlighting key features and providing justification for recommendations in two written comments they provided. She emphasized the importance of the area's natural environment and why it should be fully implemented throughout the plan with environmental and wildlife references throughout the document. She relayed that the Society believes the vision statement should be revised and spoke in detail regarding the importance of birds and wildlife and specific ways in which they would like the document to be revised and further information incorporated. 01:36:17 Seeing no further comments, Mayor Hunter closed public comment. E. CITY MANAGER, COUNCIL, AND MAYOR REPORTS City Manager Jarod Nygren provided the following report: • City offices will be closed next Monday for Presidents' Day so the council will meet on Tuesday, February 17, 2026. • Manager Nygren confirmed that the council would be interested in continuing work on the Montana Land Use Plan in a work session after the regular meeting next week. Staff will incorporate strikeouts from the discussion tonight into the draft plan. 01:36:57 Mayor Hunter spoke to the recent death of former Council Member and long-time involved community member Jim Atkinson and offered condolences and spoke regarding the big impact he had on the community. 01:37:30 Mayor Hunter spoke regarding requests from organizations that would like to have dialogue and conversations beyond public comment. He asked about Council willingness to allow Community Reports in addition to Committee Reports on the agenda from community organizations or groups to allow for presentations and dialogue and would be scheduled and placed on the agenda. Council Member Daoud provided concerns on the addition of Community Reports as an agenda item and fair access and the idea of a special night for Council to talk with nonprofits. F. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hunter adjourned the meeting at 9:19 p.m. Page 6 of 7 Kalispell City Council Minutes, February 9, 2026 4AieeVrunckhorst, City Clerk --0NIP..• Minutes approved on March 2, 2026 UPCOMING SCHEDUIJ�`'````�. City Offices Closed — February 16, 2026 — Presidents' Day Holiday Next Regular Meeting — TUESDAY, February 17, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. — Council Chambers Next Work Session — February 23, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. — Council Chambers PARTICIPATION Watch council sessions live with the agenda and supporting documents or later with documents and time stamped minutes at: https://www.kalispell.com/MeetingVideos or live or later on YouTube at: www.kalispell.com/YouTube. The City does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, activities, and employment practices. Auxiliary aids are available. For questions about disability accommodation please contact the City Clerk at 406-758-7756. Page 7 of 7