Tab 04. September 30, 2008 Staff Report for Gardner Annexation & PUDGARDNER INVESTMENTS, LLC
REQUEST FOR INITIAL ZONING OF B-5/PUD UPON ANNEXATION
STAFF REPORT #KA-08-05
KALISPELL PLANNING DEPARTMENT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
This is a report for the Kalispell City Planning Board and the Kalispell City Council
regarding the initial zoning of B-5 (Industrial -Commercial) with a Planned Unit
Development (PUD) placeholder upon annexation to the city for property located on the
east side of Highway 93 between Lower Valley Road and Snow Line Road. A public
hearing has been scheduled before the planning board for October 14, 2008 beginning
at 7:00 PM in the Kalispell City Council Chambers. The planning board will forward a
recommendation to the Kalispell City Council for final action.
This report evaluates the appropriate assignment of a city zoning classification in
accordance with Section 27.03.010(4) of the Kalispell Zoning Ordinance. The property
owner has petitioned for annexation and initial zoning classification of B-5/PUD.
A. Petitioner and Owners: Gardner Investments, LLC
P.O. Box 958
Kalispell, Montana 59903
(406) 752-7683
B. Location and Legal Description of Property: The annexation request includes 9
tracts of land totaling 81.59t acres on the east side of Highway 93 South. The 9
tracts of land are not contiguous and are located between the intersection of
Highway 93 and Lower Valley Road and Highway 93 and Snowline Lane. There are
four existing businesses located on two separate tracts included in the annexation
request. The Gardner's Auction Service, Rock City, and Janitor's World are located
on tract 6. Northwestern Truss, 3215 Highway 93, is located on tract 7C. The 9
tracts of land can be described as follows: tracts 1, 1F, 6, 6I, and lots 1 and 2 of
the Mergenthaler Subdivision are located in Section 28, Township 28 North, Range
21 West; tract 7C and lots 4 and 5 of the Lost Creek Subdivision are located in
Section 33, Township 28 North, Range 21 West P.M.M., Flathead County,
Montana.
C. Existing zoning: The properties are currently in Flathead County jurisdiction
and are zoned I-1H, Light Industrial - Highway, which has a one -acre minimum
lot size requirement. The I-111 zoning district is intended for industrial areas
which are located along state and federal highways and contain greater levels of
performance and mitigation utilizing increased setbacks, landscape buffering,
access control and signage restriction for the purpose of protecting the County's
major travel ways from unnecessary encroachments, limiting access points to
encourage improved traffic flows and to preserve scenic corridors and entrance
ways to major communities.
D. Proposed Zoning: The B-5, Industrial -Commercial, zoning designation has been
proposed for all 9 tracts of land. The B-5 zoning district is intended primarily to
accommodate a variety of business, warehouse, and light -industrial uses in
industrial -commercial park development. Such uses shall not create
objectionable characteristics (such as dirt, noise, glare, heat, odor, smoke, etc.)
which extend beyond lot lines. This district should be located near major
arterials and rail services.
The Planned Unit Development (PUD) placeholder is also proposed to be placed
over all 9 tracts of land in conjunction with the B-5 zoning district. The intent of
the PUD placeholder is to allow the developer to enter into a development
agreement with the city, binding the property to a future PUD application. The
PUD placeholder does not require the developer to provide any application
materials or development plans and the developer does not receive any
entitlements other than a commitment between the city and the developer that
if development is to proceed it will be done via the PUD process. Prior to
development of the individual properties, the developer would submit for review
and approval a full PUD application as required by the zoning ordinance.
E. Size: The area proposed for annexation and zoning encompasses approximately
81.5 acres.
F. Existing Land Use: The majority of the 81.5 acres is unimproved land except for
two of the tracts. Tract 6 includes an auction house, janitor supply store and
retail store specializing in building and landscape rocks. Tract 7C, south of tract
6, is developed with a truss company. Tracts 1 and 1F are developed with
billboards, tract 6I includes a radio tower serving a nearby radio station, and lot
5 of the Lost Creek Subdivision includes a 300 square foot building previously
used as an office.
Figure 1: The picture on top is of the existing truss company on tract 7C. The
picture below shows the three commercial buildings on tract 6.
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If the properties included in the annexation request are annexed and are given
the initial zoning of B-5, the existing auction house on tract 6 and the single-
family residence on tract 7C will become a non -conforming use. Also, the
billboard signs on tracts 1 and IF will eventually need to be removed based on
provisions in chapter 27.24 of the zoning ordinance.
Sections 27.17.020 and 27.17.030 listing the permitted and conditional uses in
the B-5 zoning district do not include an auction house. The auction house will
therefore be considered a non -conforming use subject to the provisions of
chapter 27.25, Nonconforming lots, uses and structures, of the Kalispell
Ordinance Code. Possible changes to the permitted or conditional uses in the B-
5 zoning or through the PUD process could alleviate the non -conforming status of
the auction house in the future.
The three existing billboards located on tracts 1 and IF will need to be removed
within five years of annexation of the properties provided they are assigned the 13-
5 zoning district. Section 27.24.080(7)(h) states, "Whenever a parcel of land
containing any billboard is rezoned, or annexed and zoned, to one of the
prohibited zoning classifications, the billboard or billboards shall be removed
within five years of the rezoning or, in the case of annexation, within five years
of the date upon which a city zoning classification is imposed upon the annexed
parcel; provided that any billboards removed pursuant to this subsection may
be reinstalled within any of the permitted zones listed in Section 27.24.110, in
accordance with subsection (fl, supra." Section 27.24.110(9) prohibits
billboards in the B-5 zoning district.
Figure 2: The three existing billboards on tracts 1 and IF. The photo was
taken viewing the billboards from the perspective of northbound traffic on
Highway 93. Highway 93 is just outside of the picture frame on the left.
The planning board and city council should note two other minor issues related
to signs and lighting. There is currently an off -site commercial center sign
located in the southwest corner of lot 1 of the Mergenthaler subdivision. The
commercial center sign faces Highway 93 and is advertising three commercial
buildings located east of the highway. The sign includes four panels however
only three of the panels are currently being used. The total sign area for all
four panels is approximately 36 square feet per face. This complies with the
County's sign standards for maximum allowable signage.
Figure 3: The existing off -site commercial center sign on lot 1 of the
Mergenthaler Subdivision.
If the property is annexed and assigned the B-5/PUD zoning the sign will be
considered non -conforming based on Section 27.24.070 of the zoning
ordinance. This section of the code provides for sign area allowances for
developed properties. The property is currently undeveloped, making the sign
non -conforming at this time. Once the property is developed the sign area will
be counted towards the overall sign allowance for the property. The sign will
also count towards the allowable detached signs permitted for the property.
Regarding the lighting, during a site inspection of the properties the outdoor
lighting for the existing commercial buildings does not meet the outdoor lighting
standards in the zoning ordinance. The wall lighting is not fully shielded as
required by the ordinance code. If annexed, the lighting will need to be brought
into compliance by January 1, 2009. The city council may grant two, one-year
extensions based upon a specific hardship and upon written request.
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G. Adjjacent Land Uses and Zoning: Adjacent land uses are a mix of commercial
and light industrial along Highway 93 with undeveloped land approximately 1/4
mile east of the highway. These uses include a moving company, radio station,
heavy equipment rental and repair, veterinary clinic, mini -storage and powder
coating company. The two lots along Snowline Lane have commercial uses to the
north and south with residential development to the east and southeast of the
properties. An attached aerial photo of the area titled Gardner Annexation Area
shows existing development in relation to the land requesting annexation and
initial zoning.
North: Residential and commercial, County R-1 (Suburban Residential)
and County I-1 H
East: Vacant land, County SAG-5 (Suburban Residential)
South: Residential, R-1 (Suburban Residential)
West: Commercial/Industrial, City B-2 (General Business)
H. General Land Use Character:
The general land use character of the Highway 93 South corridor is commercial
and light industrial uses concentrated along Highway 93. Moving east from the
highway oriented businesses are larger undeveloped tracts or rural residential
tracts of land.
I. Availability of Public Services and Extension of Services: With the exception
of the Town Pump gas station, located at the intersection of Cemetery Road and
Highway 93, and Old School Station, located on the south end of the growth
policy amendment boundary, the remaining lands are outside of city limits.
Existing city infrastructure in this area includes city water and sewer lines
running the length of Highway 93 from Cemetery Road south to the Old School
Station subdivision. These lines have been oversized to serve not only the Old
School Station subdivision but the anticipated future development that would
occur on the tracts of land included with the annexation request.
EVALUATION BASED ON STATUTORY CRITERIA
The statutory basis for reviewing a change in zoning is set forth by 76-2-303, Montana
Code Annotated (M.C.A.). Findings of fact for the zone change request are discussed
relative to the itemized criteria described by 76-2-304, M.C.A.
1. Does the requested zone comply with the Master Plan?
Three of the properties, tracts 1, 1F, and a portion of 6I are designated by the
Kalispell Growth Policy Future Land Use Map as commercial. This designation is
found at and around the intersection of Highway 93 and Lower Valley Road. The
remaining tracts of land included in the annexation request are designated
industrial by the Kalispell Growth Policy Future Lard Use Map.
Based on the current growth policy land use designation the applicants
requested the B-2 (General Business) and I-1 (Light Industrial) zoning districts
upon annexation. The B-2 zoning district complies with the commercial land use
designation and the I-1 complies with the industrial designation. Upon further
review of the zoning districts the planning department is recommending the
planning board consider an initial zoning of B-5 with a PUD placeholder for all of
the tracts requesting annexation. The planning department has discussed the B-
5/PUD zoning with the applicants and they concur that a B-5 zoning district with
a PUD placeholder is reasonable based on the current land uses on and around
the properties included in the annexation.
The planning board has recently reviewed and recommended changes to the land
use designations in this area of Highway 93. The changes in land use
designations have come about because of increased pressure by a large
landowner to the west to also annex into the city and secondly to review the
larger Highway 93 corridor to determine whether the industrial land use
designation is still relevant in this area.
After holding a public hearing the planning board recommended the industrial
land use designation on the east side of Highway 93 be changed to an urban
mixed use designation. The urban mixed use designation is intended to provide
for a compatible mix of high intensity uses including office as well as some
commercial and light industrial. Residential development including single-
family, townhomes and apartment units along with public facilities would also
be found in this land use designation. The intent, permitted and conditional
uses of the B-5 zoning district comply with the urban mixed use land use
designation in addition to the commercial and industrial land use designations.
The proposed B-5 (Industrial -Commercial) zoning district permits a variety of
office, commercial and light industrial uses that are compatible with both the
existing commercial and industrial designations and the anticipated change to
the urban mixed use designation. This is based on the B-5 zoning district's
intent to accommodate a variety of business, warehouse, and light -industrial
uses in industrial -commercial park development. Such uses shall not create
objectionable characteristics (such as dirt, noise, glare, heat, odor, smoke, etc.)
which extend beyond lot lines. This district is also intended to be located near
major arterials and rail services. Highway 93 fronts half of the land proposed
for the B-5 zoning. The other half of land is within 1/4 mile or less of Highway
93.
The following goals of the Kalispell Growth Policy support the request to zone the
tracts of land B-5 upon annexation:
Chapter 4, Goal 2
NEW COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT SHOULD OCCUR IN AREAS WHERE
PUBLIC WATER AND SEWER ARE AVAILABLE.
Chapter 4, Goal 6
PROVIDE ADEQUATE AREAS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY FOR COMMERCIAL
AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT.
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In addition to zoning the 81.5 acres B-5 upon annexation the developer is also
requesting the Planned Unit Development (PUD) placeholder be included in the
zoning. The majority of the land proposed for annexation is unimproved and
there is the potential for one or more of the tracts of land to be sold and
developed separately. This can become a problem if future street and utility
connectivity is lost due to poor design. The PUD placeholder will allow the
developer to enter into a development agreement with the city, binding the
property to a future PUD application. The PUD placeholder will be beneficial to
both the current or future developers and the city as it would take into account
the development of each individual or combination of tracts of land with
surrounding lots and uses. This broader view of the area will help to ensure
there will be a cohesive design of future streets, sidewalks, stormwater, building
location and design and parking on the properties.
Support for a cohesive design for lots zoned commercial and/or industrial is
included in the growth policy. Chapter 4, goal 1 of the Kalispell Growth Policy
states, "Encourage the development and growth of prosperous commercial and
industrial districts, each with a viable mix of businesses, suitable infrastructure,
and a coordinated development pattern that reduces business costs and
increases small business opportunities."
The PUD placeholder does not require the developer to provide any application
materials or development plans at this time. The developer does not receive any
entitlements other than a commitment between the city and the developer that
if development is to proceed it will be done via the PUD process. Prior to
development of the individual properties, the developer would submit for review
and approval a full PUD application as required by the zoning ordinance.
In conclusion, the proposed B-5/PUD zoning is consistent with the existing
commercial and industrial land use designation shown on the Kalispell Growth
Policy Future Land Use Map. The B-5/PUD zoning will also be consistent with
the urban mixed use land use designation if the city council approves the
changes recommended by the planning board.
2. Is the requested zone designed to lessen congestion in the streets?
The uses allowed under the proposed B-5 zone would not generate more traffic
than those allowed under the existing I-1H county zoning. This is because the
proposed B-5 zoning includes very similar uses as the I-1H zoning district. All
of the tracts included in the annexation request are adjacent or within 1/4 mile of
Highway 93. Upgrades to the highway as well as the PUD placeholder and
revised goals and policies proposed in the Kalispell Growth Policy for this area
will require alternative transportation routes in the area. This in turn would
lessen congestion for the immediate streets.
3. Will the requested zone secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers?
Adequate access and public facilities are available to the site in the case of an
emergency. There are no features related to the properties which would
compromise the safety of the public. Any new construction will be required to be
in compliance with the building safety codes of the city which relate to fire and
building safety. All municipal services including police and fire protection, water
and sewer service would be available to the property. For water and sewer
service this may require main line extensions by the developer for future projects.
4. Will the requested zone promote the health and general welfare?
The requested zoning classification will promote the health and general welfare
by restricting land uses to those which would be consistent with the city's growth
policy map and provide a place for new commercial business or industrial uses to
locate within city limits.
5. Will the requested zone provide for adequate light and air?
Setback, height, and coverage standards for development occurring on the
properties are established in the Kalispell Zoning Ordinance to insure adequate
light and air is provided.
6. Will the requested zone prevent the overcrowding of land?
The minimum lot size for the proposed B-5 zoning designation on this property
is 7,000 square feet. The potential development associated with the property
would be limited by both the development standards associated with the B-5
zoning district that relate to lot coverage and the types of uses permitted under
the zoning and the PUD placeholder. The PUD placeholder will ensure that the
uses and -layout of properties included in the annexation will not cause an
overcrowding of land. Commercial and industrial development in this area is
appropriate because of its location and the availability of urban services.
7. Will the requested zone avoid undue concentration of people?
Minimum lot standards and use standards will avoid the undue concentration of
people if the properties are further developed.
8. Will the requested zone facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water,
sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements?
All public services and facilities will be provided to the properties prior to
construction and development is encouraged in the Kalispell Growth Policy 2020
where these services are available. The properties have legal access onto either
Lower Valley Road, Highway 93, or Snowline Lane. Within the Highway 93 right-
of-way are city water and sewer main lines. If annexed, these lines would be
available for future developers to extend to their individual project. There are no
sidewalks or bike paths along the portion of Highway 93 where several of the
properties are located. This will make pedestrian or bicycle travel difficult and
require future development on lots adjacent to Highway 93 to install bike or
pedestrian paths. Utility connections and transportation corridors would be
addressed when development is proposed on the property.
9. Does the requested zone give consideration to the particular suitability of the
property for particular uses?
All of the properties are fairly level, with one tract, 7C, having its eastern portion
within a 100-year floodplain. However, future development on tract 7C would
occur west of the existing truss company located on the property and out of the
floodplain portion of the property.
The proposed B-5/PUD zoning district would permit uses consistent with the
surrounding land uses already established along the Highway 93 corridor. The
proposed zoning districts can therefore be found to give due consideration of the
suitability of this property for the permitted uses in the district. The property is
suitable for commercial and light industrial type land uses as indicated by the
Growth Policy.
10. Does the requested zone give reasonable consideration to the character of the
district?
The properties included in the annexation and initial zoning request are located
on the east side of Highway 93 south of Lower Valley Road. This area's character
is a combination of commercial and industrial development along Highway 93
with undeveloped lands both along the highway and east of the existing
development. There are some larger residential tracts of land to the north of
Lower Valley Road and along Snowline Lane, the southern extent of the lots
requesting the initial zoning. However, residential development is not the
predominant land use.
In the early 1990's the city and county adopted the Highway 93 South
Neighborhood Plan as an amendment to the Kalispell City -County Master Plan.
The Highway 93 South neighborhood plan was completed in large part to
provide a basis for zoning this area just outside of city limits. At that time it
was determined that industrial land uses would be the most appropriate for
this area instead of maintain the predominately agricultural uses that had been
in place. The county subsequently zoned the area in and around the properties
requesting annexation to an industrial zoning district. This district is still in
place today and has led to the mix of commercial and industrial uses which
make up this area of the county.
The character of this area, once primarily large single family lots and agricultural
operations, continues to change. This can be attributed to the county industrial
zoning initiated over a decade ago and more recently the installation of public
water and sewer lines in this area. A B-5/PUD zoning designation would be
appropriate for the site given the existing land uses and potential development
encouraged through the industrial zoning for the area.
11. Will the proposed zone conserve the value of buildings?
Value of the buildings in the area will be conserved because the B-5/PUD zoning
will promote compatible and like uses on this property as are found on other
properties in the area.
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12. Will the requested zone encourage the most appropriate use of the land
throughout the municipality?
Commercial and light industrial development should be encouraged in areas
were services and facilities are available to support these types of uses permitted
or conditionally permitted under the B-5 zoning district. The proposed zoning
and potential subsequent uses would be consistent with the surrounding land
uses in the area. When development occurs, construction standards outlined
and required in the city's building codes and subsequent PUD review will help to
enhance one of Kalispell's most used gateway entrance corridors.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission adopt
Staff Report #KA-08-05 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council
that the initial zoning for the properties upon annexation be B-5/PUD, (Industrial-
Commercial/Planned Unit Development).
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