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
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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
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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