06/24/02 DI/Public Hearing on Mall4ONDAY
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SPORTS: Wimbledon begins today ..�....
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ublic hearing on Mall,-,_i.
LIAM L. SPENCE
ily Inter Lake
atest in a series of public
,,s on a proposed regional
Evergreen will be held
before the Kalispell City
1.
council will take public com-
n Wolford Development's
t for a master plan amend -
allow commercial and resi-
uses on 247 acres located
ie intersection of LaSalle
end East Reserve Drive.
area is currently designated
ht industrial, commercial,
atial and agricultural uses.
eloper James "Bucky"
-d wants to build a $100 mil -
9
lion enclosed shopping mall on the
property, together with an adjacent
350,000-square-foot retail center and
related commercial, retail and resi-
dential projects.
"'He's been pursuing that goal
since 1999.
"If I had three years of my life
and my money back, I might recon-
sider going forward with this,"
Wolford joked during a telephone
interview from his Chattanooga,
Tenn., office on Tuesday.
"But I'm persistent," he said.
"With options and all, I've probabl
got $600,000 in this. I'm at the point
now where I have to develop. With
that much invested, I can't just
walk away."
Wolford said he believes he has a
green light to move forward with
the project. The proposed mall site t
is currently in Flathead County,
and the commissioners have g
already approved the necessary
master plan amendment and zone li
change. e
However, he wants to tie into y
Kalispell's sewer system, and has
requested annexation into the city.
Tonight's hearing addresses the
master plan amendment, the coun- a
cil's first step toward bringing the 1
project into the city. b
The council won't act on the
amendment until July 1. Even if it's d
approved, Wolford still has a num-
ber of other planning hoops to jump
through, including a zone change
and a planned unit development
agreement.
If the project makes it through