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08-09-16 - Regular MeetingKALISPELL CITY PLANNING BOARD & ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING August 9, 2016 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL The regular meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and CALL Zoning Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Board members present were: Chad Graham, Charles Pesola, Steve Lorch, Doug Kauffman, and Christopher Yerkes. Rory Young & Ronalee Skees were absent. Tom Jentz represented the Kalispell Planning Department. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Kauffinan moved and Yerkes seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the July 12, 2016, meeting of the Kalispell City Planning Board and Zoning Commission. VOTE BY ACCLAMATION The motion passed unanimously on a vote of acclamation. PUBLIC COMMENT None. MEADOW PARK, UNIT NO.4 A request from Andrew Bestwick for a major subdivision of a .61 acre residential lot into two residential lots consisting of .28 and .33 acres. In addition to the subdivision request, the major subdivision would remove an existing plat note limiting the property to single-family dwellings only. The subject property is located on South Woodland Drive just south of 2230 South Woodland Drive. BOARD MEMBER STEPPED Doug Kauffman recused himself from the discussion and vote as DOWN his company works with the applicant. STAFF REPORT Tom Jentz, representing the Kalispell Planning Department reviewed Staff Report KPP 16-01 for the board. Jentz reviewed the location of the property, and noted the property is vacant. He said the larger area came in for a minor subdivision in 2005 and at that time 2 lots were created, and it was annexed into the City of Kalispell. The property is zoned R-4 which is a single-family, duplex zone. There was significant public opposition in 2005 for this property to be allowed to have duplex or townhouse development. Also in 2005 the developer was only interested in building single-family homes and requested that a condition be added to the plat that states that only single-family homes will be built on these lots. Jentz continued, now we fast -forward to today. There is a new owner who would like to develop these lots with duplexes or possibly split the lots in order to develop townhomes, however the deed restriction limits the property to single-family dwellings only. Therefore the applicant is requesting to amend the plat by Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 9, 2016 Page d removing the deed restriction. Staff recommends that the Kalispell Planning Board and Zoning Commission adopt Staff Report KPP16-01 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the preliminary plat of Meadow Park Unit No. 4 be approved subject to the 10 conditions listed in the staff report. Staff is suggesting that if the board goes ahead with plat amendment a Condition #11 will have to be added to state that the note on the final plat of Meadow Park, Unit 3 in this subdivision shall be developed with single-family dwellings is hereby lifted." Jentz added that no public comment on this issue has been received to date. BOARD DISCUSSION Graham asked when this was first brought up in 2005 were the adjoining properties that were notified the same list as this one and Jentz said yes, properties within 150 feet of the proposed subdivision. Graham asked if the developer is interested in moving forward with and without the lifting of the deed restriction and Jentz deferred to the applicant. Graham asked if this is before the board because of the subdivision and the removal of a deed restriction would overturn a council action and Jentz said it is before the board because it is a condition of a previous subdivision and if changed it requires a public hearing process. Lorch asked if there is anywhere else in the neighborhood that this restriction exists and Jentz said the rest of the subdivision is zoned R-4 and has the option of developing a duplex or townhouse however, the lots are all developed with conventional single- family homes. Jentz reviewed the discussions when this property was developed that led to the decision to add the deed restriction. Further discussion was held. PUBLIC HEARING Hillary Hatton, 2230 South Woodland Dr, Kalispell stated they purchased their home about 3 years ago and they are opposed to removing the existing plat note (deed restriction) allowing multi- family dwellings to be developed. They assumed that at some point the land next to them would sell and a single-family home would be built. However they never imagined that it would townhouses or duplexes since the entire street has single family homes. She said it was unfortunate that the whole neighborhood didn't show up tonight. Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 9, 2016 Page 12 Andrew Bestwick, 28 Willowbrook Close, Whitefish stated that he is the applicant and has been a Flathead Valley native all of his life. Bestwick said he purchased the lot about 2 years ago from Craig's List because he thought it was a good deal. It wasn't until about a year ago he was reading through the regulations and discovered that subdivision was an option. He also thought it would be a good learning process for his career. There were covenants for Meadow Park, Unit 3, which only consisted of 2 lots. Those covenants restricted subdivision and anything over a single-family home. Bestwick talked to the owner of the other unit and we filed the documentation at the Clerk & Recorder's Office releasing those covenants. He has talked to the other owner of Meadow Park, Unit 3 and they were on board with releasing the covenants and allowing the subdivision and a duplex which would be consistent with the zoning. Bestwick said he has taken into account some of the affects that subdivision would have in the removal of that note on the plat. Graham asked when Bestwick purchased the land from Craig's List was he aware of the language on the plat? Bestwick said no, and he didn't have subdividing or development in mind at that time, it was an investment opportunity. MOTION Lorch moved and Pesola seconded a motion to adopt Staff Report KPP16-01 as findings of fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the preliminary plat of Meadow Park Unit No. 4 be approved subject to the 10 conditions listed in the staff report. BOARD DISCUSSION Pesola said knowing that neighborhood and property relatively well he has no issue with the subdivision part of the application. He does tend to be hesitant to lift the condition. He understands that the zoning would support the request but the neighborhood is developed as single-family only and these are the last 2-3 properties in a well -established neighborhood. Even though that condition is only on those 3 properties he has a hard time believing that anyone else is going to change the nature of their lot to allow for a duplex or townhome. He added taking a virtual open space and putting in 4 dwelling units seems excessive. Lorch asked if there is a way to characterize the owner/renter occupancy rate in that neighborhood. Jentz said he does not the owner/renter occupancy but he does know it is difficult to bring that into the picture because even if the applicant were to build townhouses or duplexes they still could be owner occupied. Jentz explained further. Lorch said the thought was if there was a high rate of rental in the Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 9, 2016 Page13 neighborhood there would not be a lot of people that counted on the neighborhood staying the same as when they built their homes. Lorch asked which lot belongs to the Hatton's and Jentz said their lot is immediately to the north of the tip of the cul-de-sac. Lorch asked if the grade transition could be built on or would they have to build up toward the cul-de-sac and avoid that hillside. Jentz said with the proper design this piece of topography would not be limiting as the lot is large. Yerkes said his concern is since the zoning is consistent through the entire neighborhood he would have a hard time putting additional restrictions specifically on one or two pieces of property and not have those same requirements and restrictions on the rest of the neighborhood, being the zoning is the same throughout. Yerkes continued keeping the note on the plat that disallows duplexes on the property would be difficult for him to support Graham said he agrees with Pesola. When you go back to the start when this was annexed into the city the way it was sold was it would blend into to the single-family neighborhood, even though it was R-4 zoning. The character of the neighborhood has been established and public comment spoke against the removal of the restriction. Graham said he is in favor of the subdivision but not the removal of the language. Further discussion was held. MOTION TO ADD Lorch moved and Pesola seconded a motion to amend the original CONDITION #11 motion to add Condition #11 to state that the note on the final plat of Meadow Park, Unit 3 be reaffirmed and remains in force. ROLL CALL — CONDITION The motion passed on a roll call vote of 3 in favor and one #11 opposed. ROLL CALL — ORIGINAL The original motion, as amended, passed on a roll call vote of 3 in MOTION favor and one opposed. Board Member Kauffman took his seat. OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS There will be a meeting next month to discuss the Core Area Plan. They are currently going through the environmental assessment process right now and they need to create an opportunity for the community to come forward with comments, and for the board to weigh in on the general concept for the trail, and the completion of street crossings from Center Street to Idaho that do not currently Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 9, 2016 Page 14 ADJOURNMENT Chad Graha President exist. Jentz asked if the board supports going back to the 7:00 p.m. start of the meetings next month or continue to meet at 6:00 p.m. The Board agreed the meetings should begin at 6:00 p.m. throughout the year. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:40 p.m. APPROVED as submitted/amended /0 / / / 12016 Michelle Anderson Recording Secretary Kalispell City Planning Board Minutes of the meeting of August 9, 2016 Page15