09-11-14 Site Review MinutesSITE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE SUMMARY
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Lower Level Conference Room
201 First Avenue East
ATTENDING:
Mark Crowley, Construction Manager Chad Fincher, Parks & Rec. Director
Tom Jentz, Planning & Building Director Kevin LeClair, Senior Planner
Rick Parker, Bldg. Dept. Inspector Wade Rademacher, Police Captain
Rebekah Wargo, Asst. Civil Engineer P.J. Sorensen, Chairman
Kathy Nelson, Recording Secretary
GUESTS: Scott Emmert (Smart Insurance) and Kim Larson (APEC Engineering)
HEAR THE PUBLIC: None.
PERFORMANCE BOND REMINDERS:
Ashley Heights — We have an extended performance bond for Wayne Turner's soundwall. Jentz and
LeClair visited his son's property up by LHC. Turner has begun pouring the base blocks for the wall
that will be buried, so he was testing his forms to get the mix right. They have about a dozen blocks
so far, and will need 800 blocks total. We have encouraged him to get the trench dug for his
foundation before it freezes, and get the gravel in so he can start placing the blocks in the trench.
Once it freezes, he can just build up the wall. The foundation is 3' wide, and 2' deep gravel.
OLD BUSINESS:
Doggie Day Care — in the old National Llama Registry at I I1/2 South Meridian near Bud Block's.
This is an existing space that is accessed off of Meridian. There is an outdoor fenced area they cannot
use under the zoning code, and will keep the dogs inside. They plan to soundproof the building with
sound -dampening board. The parking lot is presently unpaved, and they will probably need to pave
the front area to provide five parking spaces. There is a large gravel area in the back. We have not
received a parking design for the front yet. This will be on the agenda for next week.
NEW BUSINESS:
Smart Insurance Building — across from Woodland Park. They are looking at doing an addition
onto an existing 2000 sq ft building. The addition would go on the west and south side. There is an
existing parking lot that is up in front. They are doing a boundary line adjustment to account for the
setback coming off of the south of the building. They have proposed closing off College to make
room for more parking spaces, but it creates a dead-end. They could leave the access open and put in
angled parking. They have curbing around the signage. Emmert expressed his concern for drivers
cutting across their lot. They have a speed bump that hasn't slowed the drivers' down. Sorensen
suggested they may also consider narrowing the entrance off of Second to become more of a defined
driveway. They may consider a "one-way only" for traffic flow. Sign options were discussed.
Crowley mentioned that they might do some street right-of-way improvements such as sidewalks,
curb and gutter, street trees, or street lights. He asked if they have some alternatives to doing all
these improvements. There is a ramp and crosswalk across the street that leads from Woodland Park
that they could possibly complete over to their project with a handicapped ramp and sidewalks.
Emmert stated they will be putting in some curbing. Their parking along College that is in the ROW
and backs out onto the street should be removed. There could be street parking there. They will
meet with Crowley to discuss this. A new landscape plan will be submitted next week. This will be
on the agenda for next week.
PLANNING OFFICE ITEMS:
Captain's Marine — The hearing took place on Tuesday night. The PUD was presented to
the Planning Board. Due to limited information on the balance of the site outside of the
intended development on the front as well as a lack of resolution on how the property
integrates with the rest of the PUD, we proposed to apply the PUD to the front 3.7 acres of
the property, and any other development on the balance of the property would require another
full PUD. That was not what the applicant or the engineers were hoping for, so after some
deliberation with the Planning Board, we decided that we would work with APEC on coming
up with a full PUD plan for the entire property and bring that back to the Planning Board for
the next Public Hearing. LeClair plans to work on review comments and outline what else we
need if the application is intended to cover the entire property. We will send a letter to APEC
to explain what we need from them and then write a revised staff report for the Planning
Board.
Flathead High School Residential Parking District —After the above mentioned hearing,
there was a Work Session on the Flathead High School residential parking district. After a
lengthy hearing of testimony from the community for and against the parking district, the
Planning Board wasn't sure what to do next. We are going to come up with a couple of
solutions, layout some pros and cons, and submit this to the Planning Board for the Public
Hearing.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Planning Consultant Team - Jentz stated that we are advertising for a Planning Consultant Team to
come in and work on the South Urban Renewal Plan around the airport. We hope to have the team in
by Christmas to undertake a year -long plan to evaluate the south Kalispell neighborhood.
Particularly, the airport viability and the business activity around it and further out. It will be paid for
out of TIF funds.
TIGER 6 Grant — Jentz noted that the TIGER 6 Grant did not get approved, so we are still trying to
figure out the political ramifications. The AMWED Board met and will be going after new market tax
credits which has similar funding injection. We will submit again next year for the TIGER 6 Grant.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.