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Planning Board Minutes - June 12, 2007KALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JUNE 12, 2007 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and GALL Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were: Bryan Schutt, Robyn Balcom, Kari Gabriel, Rick Hull, John Hinchey, Jim Williamson and C.M. (Butch) Clark. Sean Conrad represented the Kalispell Planning Department. There were approximately S people M the audience. SEATING OF NEW BOARD Vice President Hull introduced and welcomed the new MEMBER member of the board, Jim Williamson. Williamson reviewed his qualifications. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Clark moved and Balcom seconded a motion to appoint PRESIDENT Bryan Schutt as the President of the Kalispell City Planning & Zoning Commission. ROLL GALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Clark moved and Balcom seconded a motion to appoint John VICE PRESIDENT Hinchey as the Vice President of the Kalispell City Planning & Zoning Commission. ROLL CALL The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Gabriel moved and Balcom seconded a motion to approve the minutes of May 8, Ss May 22, 2007. ROLL CALL The motion passed 6 to 1 on a roll Gall vote with Williamson ab staining. HEAR THE PUBLIC Pete Wessel, 121 Rainbow Drive gave a brief power point presentation on par g issues for the board's consideration. (A copy of the presentation is available for review in the planning office.) ]Vessel provided several examples of parking that is allowed but he feels shouldn't be allowed in the city. His comments included the lack of front yard requirements that would prohibit parking in the yards; allowing reductions in residential parking requirements in close proximity to downtown; and the attachment requirement for duplexes. He suggested the following mechanisms for consideration: Parking Regulations (New Construction); Yard Requirements in Zoning Regulations; Architectural Requirements; { 7onin ry Bu.fldinb Permit 7nfore:'rn e" t, Tra��f' e El'' forcer" ant (sidewalk encroachment); Construction of curb and gutter l downtown; and Include alleys in small lot new developments. Kalispell Citr Planning Board yIir1LILes Of the meeLilla of .dune 12. '"007 Wessel reiterated his primary concerns with the Willow Creek amendments which are the provision of a or arterial through the site to alleviate Meridian Road traffic problems and the relocation of the southeast access which is too close to the bypass ramps. Julie Robinson, 955 Foys Lake Road said she had some comments regarding Willow Creek. Robinson expressed her concerns with storrawater runoff now that Learn Lane has been raised 1-1 j 2 feet. She said it will create a dike and limit the area where runoff can drain, especially when the runoff from the proposed Willow creek subdivision is released through the culvert that crosses Foys Lake Road. She asked the board to consider this issue when reviewing the willow Creek project at their work session. Robinson added the additional height in the road makes it more difficult to access her property. The road feathers out so that the people in front and back still have an undisturbed access to their driveway and asked whose responsibility it will be to bring in the fill needed to bring her driveway up to the road surface. She said the contractor will be replacing the main culvert and she said she hopes it will be larger. Robinson noted Lone Pine filled in the creek completely and didn't put in culverts until the neighbors called the DNRC. She thinks the culverts they finally put in will be too small come spring runoff. Mayre Flowers, citizens for a Better Flathead commended the board for allowing a member of the public to present a visual presentation. She encouraged the board to adopt a policy to allover visual presentations by the public and suggested the board recommend to the city council that they allow them as well. She said it is a good tool to bring the public up to speed on issues that are complex and difficult to understand. FLATHEAD VILLAGE A. request from Flathead Village Greens for annexation and GREENS / STILL"WATER 180 initial zoning on. approximately 181 acres. The owner is ANNEXATION & INITIAL requesting annexation into the city of Kalispell with the R-2 ZONING (Single Family Residential) zoning district. The property is currently zoned County AG--40 and is located on the west side of Highway 93 North immediately north of the intersection. of Highway 93 North and wild Pine .Drive. STAFF REPORT KA-07-09 Sean Conrad representing the Kalispell Planning Department presented Staff Report KA-07-09 for the Board. Conrad said before the planning board is the initial zoning request of 181 acres located along Highway 93 North immediately south of Silverbrook Estates. The property owner is re . tiesti.nor the R.--2 zoni.ra. district which is riman Kaiisped City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of June t 12007 I'1 ^7 . ` .-, a single family residential zone with the minimum lot size of 9,600 square feet. The future land use map for Kalispell indicates that this area is appropriate for suburban residential type development and the R-2 district is consistent with that designation. Staff is recommending that the board adopt staff report KA-- 07-09 as findings of fact and recommend to the city council that the initial zoning of R-2 be approved. APPLICANT/TECHNICAL Eric Mulcahy, Sands Surveying said he is representing STAFF Flathead Village Greens. The city limits boundary is to the north with anurban/suburban development and as they move into the development process they will be looking to propose a subdivision and perhaps a PUD that will blend in with the Silverbrook project. PUBLIC HEARING Mulcahy pointed out there are 2 existing highway approaches on this property, one a shared approach with the Big Mountain Golf Course on the southeast boundary and there another approach at the northern part of the highway frontage. There is the connection through the Silverbrook property that the city council approved which would provide connectivity to the new interchange that will be constructed at Church Drive and Highway 93 North. K.alispell's long range plan for this area is suburban residential and the zoning proposed falls within those parameters. Sharon DeMeester, 415 Chestnut Drive distributed copies of a map of the proposed Riverdale Future Lane Use Area to the board. After reading through the application the proposal is for suburban residential which, in her opinion, is R-1 zoning. DeMeester said the board should wait to decide on the R-2 zoning because they don't know what the PUD is going to be, no one does. DeMeester continued Mr. wolford is working on his plan, which is very extensive and when he comes in and asks for annexation the board will have a total package, water, roads, density, CCR's everything will be there. DeMeester said the plans are coming in very ill -prepared including Valley Ranch and this proposal tonight. DeMeester noted the proposed Riverdale Future Land Use is ghat is currently before the county for review. The board can see what the density and the land uses are around and adjacent to this piece of property. The smallest land use in the Riverdale Plan is 1 acre and most are 2. 5 to S acres in size. So in order to be consistent with the land around this Proposal the board needs to know what their proposal is and should adopt R- I zoning until they have more information. I Mayre Flowers Citizens for a Fetter Flathead noted in the j zoning -.regulations for the czt xr R- I u ses the terra suburban Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting ot'June i 1 ''007 residential and R-2 uses the term single family residential. When the Growth Policy Amendment was reviewed for the north, the map was labeled suburban residential with a density of one to 4 units per acre. What we have seen since that amendment is all of the developments have come in at 4 units per acre with PUD's asking for higher density. That is very misleading to the people who assumed that there would be guidance in providing appropriate islands of density and not just strictly a uniform 4 units per acre or higher density. Flowers said the board should consider the surrounding developments and ghat would be appropriate in those areas. She cited the Valley Ranch project that is proposed next to Ponderosa Estates where the lots are much larger than the ones proposed in Valley Ranch.. The board is being asked to simply adopt a zone change and an annexation tonight and she thinks it would be very appropriate to recommend an R- 1 zone and require the developer to come back with a PUD . To simply open this up to an R-2 designation with no qualifications is not appropriate. Flowers said this developer wants to do the right thing and the board needs to provide the assurances to the community that their feet will be held to the fire to ensure a quality development. Hank Galpin, 1885 Stillwater Road said he owns the farm that is on the west side of the river from this proposal. He supports R-1 for this area because he thinks it is a natural transition from the golf course and R-1 is compatible with the Riverdale Plan. Galpin said he would also like to bring to the board's attention that the county lacks east -west connectors and he thinks the developers should give consideration to connecting Clark Drive to Tron.stad. Galpin said as a landowner who would provide an easement for a connector in this location he would be agreeable to a proposal to achieve the connector road. Lacy Galpin, 1885 Stillwater Road said she agrees R-1 would be appropriate and not the R-2 unless there was a plan to review. With Silverbrook they spoke in favor of that project because there was an extremely good plan that was presented. Flowers added with the development in this area the board hasn't addressed important goals in the growth policy, affordable housing and to implement a Transfer Development Rights program. She feels these are important parts of the policy. She added the city is looking at a park plan that they need funding for and providing parks through an internal TDR program is a real benefit to the city. She encouraged the board to hold work sessions and look at the possibilities. Kalispell City Plannin' Board �1/fitlutes O the meetilic, O June i.?. '007 BOARD DISCUSSION from Jentz, Planning Director said there is confusion on the part of the public that he wanted to clear up. The Growth Policy refers to the yellow area as suburban residential and the definition of suburban residential in terms of the Growth Policy is 0--4 units per acre. In the city's zoning ordinance the R-1 district is called suburban residential and. the R-2 district is called urban. Those are just descriptive terms and there is no relationship between. the R-1 for the zoning district and the suburban residential designation on the growth policy map. The board could recommend R- 1 but there is no benefit for the developer to come into the city with an R-1 zone and try to construct an urban development according to the city standards when they have a density that begets septic and wells. Jentz said this developer is asking for clear direction on the type of density that would be approved before investing tens of thousands of dollars on a proposal that may or may not meet the density recommended by the board and approved by city council. Staff feels that R-2 is a logical first step down the development process and all the other questions will be answered when the subdivision comes in for review. He added requesting annexation and initial zoning first is not unusual. Schutt said there are 3 or more projects within a stone's throw that have done the PUD and initial zoning at the same time. Jentz said that church & 93 (Silverbrook) decided to come in with their entire project because they were in a hurry to break ground. staff worked with them and a good project went through the process. However, there is another project (Valley Ranch) that has run aground, which is just across the highway. The developer tonight prefers to look at the land and determine whether the city would annex the property and at what base density. Jentz said the board's question is if this property were to be annexed what the most appropriate zoning. MOTION Clark moved and Hinchey seconded a motion to adapt staff report KA-07-09 as findings of fact and recommend to the city council that the initial zoning of R-2 (Single Family Residential) be approved for the 181.E acre site. BOARD DISCUSSION Hull said he is still against annexing property into the city out this far. He said it doesn't make for a contiguous city and doesn't make a city that can support itself. He thinks the result will be high taxes and poor service. Schutt said he is comfortable without a PUD on this project. The planning board and staff have put in a lot of thought and time into the various issues on High.wav 93 North, connect v it y of roads, c tc. He believes that the standards Arill Kaiispell City Planning Board ti/tinutes of the meetinv, of June 1 1 .2-007 be maintained and the goals will be reached even without a PUD at this stage. Gabriel noted that Mr. Jentz made some good points regarding the zoning appropriateness for this area. She asked Jentz to give his presentation from the city council meeting that showed the area and all of the proposals for development that are being considered. Jentz reviewed the development for the board. Hinchey said in some ways he agrees with Mr. Hull and he wishes that Kalispell was still bounded by Reserve and still a small town. But the fact is the city- is growing and the board's job is not to hold that back but rather to manage the growth. Bringing this property in at an R-2 is managing the growth in that area. This is where the growth is happening, this is where the board intended the growth to happen and he thinks it is appropriate. Balcom said she appreciates reviewing just the zoning alone and feels too often the entire proposal is rushed through. If the board watches what is happening in this area and considers what is coming in and looks at the traffic impacts and other impacts it gives them more time to make better, more appropriate decisions. Hull said the reason growth is happening in this area is because it is easier and cheaper for the developer. However, he added it will cause the city problems in the future. Clark said the board would be creating an island if they zoned this property anything but R-2 because the city is already there. Gabriel asked Hull to clarify his statement. Hull said the reason the developer is buying property in this area is the land is cheap and they can buy blocks of it and not have to deal with the problems of building closer to the city. However, it will be harder for the city to provide services such as fire, police, garbage collection., etc. He added the city should be contiguous and compact, not stretched out. ROLL CALL The motion passed on a roll call vote of 6 in favor and 1 opposed. OLD BUSINESS: I None. NEW BUSINESS. Hull mentioned again that he would like to discuss Stormwater with the city's engineer. There is a serious problem with groundwater/ stormwater in the city and those issues need to be reviewed. Jentz asked if the board would be willing to meet with Susie Turner late afternoon rather than j in the evening. The board Indicated that they- would be Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of .tune 12, 2007 ADJOURNMENT Bryan H. Schutt President to meeting with her then and would prefer either Tuesday or Wednesday. There was further discussion on changes in the subdivision regulations including stormwater and drainage. Jentz noted they are not scheduling any work sessions until fall. The meeting was adjourned at approximately S :1 5 p.m. The next regular meeting of the Kalispell city Planning Board and zoning commission will be held on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 beginning at 7:00 p.m.. APPROVED as submitted/corrected: Michelle M . Anderson Recording secretary /-/07 Kalispell City* Planning .Board Minutes cat the meeting of .Tune 2007