Tab 12. October 14, 2008 Planning Board MinutesKALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION
MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 14, 2008
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL
The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and
CALL
Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board
members present were: Rick Hull, C.M. (Butch) Clark, John
Hinchey, Jim Williamson, Richard Griffin and Troy Mendius.
Bryan Schutt was absent. Tom Jentz and Sean Conrad
represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were 3
people in the audience.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Clark moved and Hull seconded a motion to approve the
minutes of the September 9, 2008 Kalispell City Planning
Board meeting.
ROLL CALL
The motion passed 5 to 1 with Williamson abstaining.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No one wished to speak.
GARDNER ANNEXATION
A request by Gardner Investment, LLC for annexation and
initial zoning of B-5 (Industrial -Commercial) with a Planned
Unit Development (PUD) placeholder for 9 tracts of land
totaling 81.59 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 South and Lower
Valley Road and Highway 93 South and Snowline Lane.
STAFF REPORT KA-08-05
Sean Conrad representing the Kalispell Planning Department
reviewed staff report KA-08-05 for the board.
Conrad reviewed the location of the properties, the current
zoning and the growth policy land use designations for the
board. The applicants are requesting B-5 (Industrial/
Commercial) zoning designation and the intent would be to
provide a variety of businesses including warehouses, light
industrial uses and an industrial/commercial park
development. These uses would not create objectionable
characteristics such as dirt, noise, glare, heat, odor, smoke,
etc., which extend beyond the lot lines. The zoning
designation would be found appropriate in both commercial
and industrial land use designations.
The proposed planned unit development (PUD) placeholder
would cover the entire 85+ acres of land and the intent of the
placeholder would be to allow a developer to enter into a
development agreement with the city binding the property to a
future PUD application. At the time of development they
would come back before this board and the city council with
the full PUD application showing connectivity, access,
landscaping and building design. The B-5 is not only
compatible with the city's current industrial land use
designation, but the potential change to the mixed -use
Kalispell City Planning Board
Minutes of the meeting of October 14, 2008
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designation as well.
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)
placeholder.
One letter was received from John Stokes of KGEZ Radio
which Conrad read for the record. A copy is attached to the
minutes.
BOARD QUESTIONS Hinchey said this letter raises a question in his mind because
he thought the towers were on a portion of land that was
excluded from this application. Conrad explained the location
of the 2 towers and noted one tower is just outside the
property contained in this application and the other tower is
just inside this property. Hinchey asked if staff has done any
investigation of the claims by Mr. Stokes.
Jentz said the letter does not directly affect the planning
board because the board is addressing the zoning issue, not
whether the property should be annexed or not, which will be
a decision made by city council. Jentz added staff will consult
with the city attorney and city council when they act on the
annexation.
Williamson said the B-5 zone is proposed however the existing
auction house is not a permitted use in the B-5. He asked if it
would then be considered a non -conforming use and Conrad
said yes. Williamson asked what impacts that would have on
this property until the PUD is developed. Conrad said if the
property is annexed and the owners want to expand the
auction house the zoning code has provisions were they can
expand up to 50% with a conditional use permit. Also the
PUD placeholder would allow flexibility for the developer to
permit uses that might not otherwise be permitted within the
zoning district. The tradeoff is that the projects would be
better designed with a PUD. Conrad noted staff is currently
updating the city's zoning regulations including the B-5 and
indoor auction houses are proposed in the B-5 zone.
Williamson said then if there is no expansion there wouldn't
be any impacts and Conrad said the auction house would
operate as it is currently.
APPLICANT/CONSULTANTS Todd Gardner, 3065 Airport Road, and Highway 93 South
near Kalispell asked to address the letter from Mr. Stokes.
Gardner said many of the issues in the letter are not true
including any subdivisions approved before they bought the
property from the Andersons. These subdivisions were
reviewed and approved by the county. Mr. Stokes spent time
in the county planning office going over all the Anderson
transfers and all of the deeds and was told they were all fine.
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Minutes of the meeting of October 14, 2008
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The Supreme Court has ruled on the easement issue and
determined it is located on the 32 acres which are not a part
of the 160 aces. The development rights belong to the
Gardners and agricultural uses are annexed into the cities
quite often to be developed which is what they are doing.
Gardner continued the reason they want to annex the land is
to prepare for development in the future. They do not have
any set in stone plans and do not have any fancy drawings for
the board but they want to be ready when things turn around
and people start pursuing land on the south end of town.
Gardner said they have had a lot of people approach them
with good quality projects ranging from banks, restaurants
and a hotel which would all fit into their vision for the
property.
Hull asked if they have thought about a road system for this
property and Gardner said Jackola has drawn up some
potential plans for the road system but it depends on how the
land is developed. Gardner said the state has also talked to
them about using some of their roads to combine accesses for
the bypass when it is constructed.
Hull asked who owns the billboards on the property and
Gardner said there are 2 different companies with 20 to 30
year leases however, he added the leases contain a clause that
they have the ability to take down the billboards as the
properties develop and that is their plan.
Hull asked if Gardner had any problems with the Siderius
Commons proposal and he said no. He added he had visited
with the developers of Siderius Commons and planning staff
and although he hasn't had a chance to really get into the
details he is very much in favor of good quality development
on the south end of town.
Hull asked if they had any plans for a truck stop/RV Center
which Hull feels would be an important component of the
bypass. Gardner said they have discussed this type of
development not only at this location but on property they
own further south of Kalispell.
Gardner said the other issue that Mr. Stokes brought up in
his letter is in reference to Gardner Development LLC's
ownership of the properties and he stated Gardner
Investments LLC, Todd & Davar Gardner, and Davar & Vickie
Gardner all own parts of the property. Davar is a common
owner of all of the property and therefore signed the
application. Gardner added however if they need to amend the
signatures on the application and petition to annex they will.
PUBLIC HEARING Ted Sokalowski, 225 Snowline Lane described fencing issues
along one of these properties where the fence is 10 feet off the
property line. Mr. Sokalowski noted that the fence cannot be
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Minutes of the meeting of October 14, 2008
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just torn down and then put up again in the right place
because the animals will get loose. Hull asked if the fence was
on the east boundary of the Northwestern Truss property and
Sokalowski said yes going east toward Demersville Road.
MOTION
Clark moved and Williamson seconded a motion to 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).
BOARD DISCUSSION
Hull stated the board feels a grid road system is really
important. He likes the existing parallel road and he added it
should be extended and other roads should intersect it. Hull
said he has appraised the Northwestern Truss property twice
and part of that property is in the floodplain and is wetlands
and is not developable.
Hinchey asked if the entire 80+ acres could be developed as
industrial uses and Conrad said the growth policy designates
this land as industrial so whatever is permitted in the B-5 or
I-1 zones would be appropriate. Hinchey added the board will
be able to review the appropriateness of the proposed
development when they review the PUD.
There was discussion on the uses that would be allowed in
the B-5 zone. Jentz said the purpose of the B-5 with the PUD
overlay is to ultimately create a well -designed project with
mixed uses that relate to each other. Hinchey said he is very
encouraged to have the PUD aspect as part of this proposal.
Williamson noted there are a couple tracts of land with this
proposal that are separated from the rest and he asked if
anyone had any concerns about trying to incorporate the
separated tracts into a cohesive plan for the PUD.
Hull said he feels if the annexation & initial zoning is
approved it will encourage the other properties to annex in
between. Hinchey said this would be a good start.
ROLL CALL
The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
OLD BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
Jentz said the scheduled work session for October 28th has
instead been scheduled as a work session with staff and the
West Valley and Riverdale Land Use Advisory Committees to
discuss the Kalispell West Growth Policy Amendment. Jentz
suggested the planning board is welcome to attend but it is
not mandatory. The work session will be held at the
Stillwater Grange, 1810 West Reserve Drive and will begin at
7:00 p.m.
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Minutes of the meeting of October 14, 2008
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Next month's meeting is usually the 2nd Tuesday of the
month which in November happens to land on Veteran's Day.
Jentz suggested some alternative dates for that meeting and
it was decided that the meeting should be held the following
Wednesday, November 12, 2008.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:40 p.m.
ENTRANCE CORRIDOR
Immediately following the regular meeting a work session
STANDARDS WORK
was held on the following item:
SESSION
1. Entrance Corridor Standards
NEXT MEETING
The next regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning
Board and Zoning Commission is scheduled for Wednesday,
November 12, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in the Kalispell City
Council Chambers located at 201 First Avenue East in
Kalispell. The meeting date has been changed to Wednesday
due to the Veteran's Day Holiday.
After the meeting with the West Valley & Riverdale Land Use
Advisory Committees on October 28th, as noted above, the
next work session of the Kalispell City Planning Board and
Zoning Commission will be held immediately following the
regular meeting on November 12, 2008.
/s/ John Hinchey
John Hinchey
Vice President
APPROVED as submitted: 12/09/08
/ s / Michelle Anderson
Michelle Anderson
Recording Secretary
Kalispell City Planning Board
Minutes of the meeting of October 14, 2008
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