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09/13/01 SP City Council MinutesA SPECIAL MEETING OF THE KALISPELL CITY COUNCIL WAS HELD AT 5:00 P.M. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2001, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL IN KALISPELL, MONTANA. COUNCIL PRESIDENT DUANE LARSON PRESIDED. COUNCIL MEMBERS JIM ATKINSON, DON COUNSELL, RANDY KENYON, FRED LEISTIKO, DOUG SCARFF, RON VAN NATTA AND CITY MANAGER CHRIS KUKULSKI WERE PRESENT. MAYOR WILLIAM E. BOHARSKI AND COUNCIL MEMBER DALE HAARR WERE ABSENT. President Larson called the meeting to order. AGENDA APPROVAL Atkinson moved approval of the agenda. The motion was seconded by Leistiko. There was no discussion. The motion carried unanimously upon vote. CANCEL THE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 17, 2001 ON THE Kenyon moved to cancel the public hearing scheduled for September 17, 2001 on the Master Plan Amendment request by Wolford Development. The motion was seconded by Counsell. There was discussion. Kukulski explained the City has acquired the services of local attorney Bill Astle to assist the City with this master plan amendment request. He said following discussions, it became apparent the City may want to shift direction in how it approaches this project. Kukulski said he met with Mayor Boharski and Council members Atkinson, Larson and Kenyon and the result was the Special Meeting being called for this evening. He said a new growth policy plan is on the desk of the County Commissioners and the question was raised as to why a twenty year old plan should be amended when the new one "is ready to go". Kukulski said if the decision is to work with the new growth policy plan, then you shouldn't have a public hearing to amend the old master plan. He said a work session is scheduled for September 20th in which the Council will have an opportunity to discuss the issue with legal counsel. He added, "in no way, shape or form is this an attempt or an interest in trying to delay the inevitable, which is to make a tough decision". Kukulski said the attorneys are advising that this is a "cleaner way" to approach the request and there's nothing preventing the Council from rescheduling a public hearing at a future date. Scarff asked why the Council wouldn't have the public hearing stating isn't it kind of late to cancel it. Atkinson said from the meeting yesterday, it was determined it's in the best interest of the City to look at the new growth policy plan and the public hearing is to amend the old master plan. He said legal counsel feels there wouldn't be any purpose in holding a public hearing on amending the old plan if the Council is going to work with the new one. Scarf said the new plan isn't in place yet, so how can you "speak to it". Kukulski said the Council is still going to have to address whether that area should be a business zone rather than agricultural, however, legal counsel feels it would be better to address the issue in approving a new growth policy versus amending the old one. Kalispell City Council Minutes Special Meeting - September 13, 2001 Page 1 of 4 1905 Leistiko said the Council should look at the up-to-date plan,and he feels the public would agree. Kukulski asked Bill Astle to comment. Astle stated he has only been involved for a little over twenty four hours and he doesn't want to second guess opinions already received. He said what he feels is overwhelming to everyone, is the legislative intent that as of October 1, 2001, master plans are "old hat". He said after that r3a1-P. ri t-i P.c: ;;nr3 rniinti Pc are pretty well frozen as to what they can do with zoning, subdivision activities, etc. until a new growth plan is adopted. Astle said he thinks amending a plan that will be dead in a couple of weeks is not the appropriate way to follow the legislative process that has been set down. He said the growth plan is "a whole new breed in Montana and I think it is not appropriate, on the eve of that effective date, to try to be rushing in with the magnitude of this particular application". Astle said he's suggesting the application be switched into the process of being incorporated into the adoption of the growth policy plan at which time it can be addressed as to whether it's something the governing bodies want or not. Public Comment Ken Kalvig, Wolford Development Attorney, said he has spoken with Bucky Wolford and Scott Williamson and they both strongly object to pulling the public hearing. He said there is no reason why the public cannot be heard and he feels there would be valuable things come out of that hearing. Kalvig said Wolford wants to emphasize they are willing to work with the City, but they are getting increasingly concerned and frustrated that's not being reciprocated. He said by the Council canceling the public hearing, it's sending a message the City is not working with the developer. He said it's time the City starts giving consideration to the developer. Kalvig said no one knows for sure what the October 1st date means and he urged the Council to act prior to that date. He said it's very troubling that people want to focus on the new growth policy and it's inappropriate to look at a new document that's not adopted. He said the master plan is still the guide for this county today and will be the guide on September 30th, and arguably on October 1st. He said if the City plans on wrapping Wolford's project into an attempt to getting the new growth plan done, it's not just a matter of changing the color on the map, it also involves reexamining the text and he doesn't see that getting done in 30, 60 or 90 days. Kalvig said in the meantime, here Wolford sits with nothing happening. He said until the "witching hour strikes", the master plan is still in effect and the City still has the opportunity to amend it. Lee Kauffman, Kauffman, Vidal and Hileman, said he represents Darlene Jump, the landowner who has entered into an option to sell this property to Bucky Wolford. He said Wolford has worked very carefully with the Jump family to design this project to meet certain criteria which they felt was important to the Flathead and the City of Kalispell. Kauffman said all of the steps taken and money spent were in conformance with the practice and procedures required under the current and existing master plan changes and zoning changes. He said the Council now wants to change direction and incorporate the request into the new growth plan. He said this isn't a simple change because it's his understanding that there are substantial "textual, procedural and theoretical differences in opinion between members of the County Commissioners and what has been proposed to them". Kauffman said it's his opinion that if the Council unduly delays, interferes with and causes problems to a party, who in good faith, has Kalispell City Council Minutes Special Meeting - September 13, 2001 Page 2 of 4 1906 followed existing procedures and laws that are binding at this time, then the City is "truly in a liability position". He encouraged the Council to conduct the public hearing and proceed in a normal fashion. Greg Stevens, City -County Planning Board President, said it's going to be a long time before there's a new growth policy for this jurisdiction. He said the plan could have been in place now, if it hadn't been for the City Council cutting out the Planning Board and the Commissioners from working on any changes. Stevens said now the Council's trying to "blackmail the County into signing off on that growth policy with the wolford project and T can tell you that blackmail is not going to work". He said the growth policy is going to be reexamined with the interest of the County residents in mind and it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time. Jean Johnson, Stokes & Associates, speaking as a co-author of the growth plan, said adoption of the plan will realistically take a year to a year and a half. He said wolford came to town, bought a master plan, and worked off that plan. Johnson said it's not fair to change now. Diane Conradi, Citizens for a Better Flathead, said the Council has a responsibility to make sure that this growth is consistent with what the City and the jurisdictional area wants. She said under neither plan, is this area targeted for this level of commercial development, so either way the Council has to make the same decision. Conradi encouraged the Council to take the time to get the information it needs to make a good decision and that includes canceling the public hearing. She said the purpose of a growth plan is to direct development, not for the development. There was further discussion. 1 Van Natta said he also feels we're a long way from having a new growth policy because of the differences between the City and the County and the City and the Planning Board. He said he'll vote against the motion because after the hearing, the Council can decide if it has received all of the information it needs to make a decision. Leistiko said the Council needs to hear from the public, but it also needs to decide what's more important, Kalispell's future or Wolford Development's desires. He said he doesn't see any problem with postponing the public hearing. Counsell said he agrees with Van Natta, stating there's a master plan in place right now and there's no reason not to hear from the public. Kukulski encouraged the Council to listen to its legal Counsel and give his advice strong consideration. Atkinson moved to amend the motion by eliminating the word "cancel" and inserting "postpone until October 1, 2001". The motion was seconded by Leistiko. There was discussion. Larson said it will have to be readvertised and he doesn't know if we have enough time. Kukulski said he would suggest not setting a certain date because it wouldn't look good if we had to postpone it again. Kalispell City Council Minutes Special Meeting - September 13, 2001 Page 3 of 4 1907 Leistiko said the wording "cancel just cancels the public hearing set for September 17th and doesn't cancel it forever.' Atkinson withdrew the amendment. The second concurred. The motion carried upon a roll call vote with Atkinson, Kenyon, Leistiko and Larson voting in favor, and Counsell, Scarff and Van Natta voting against. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. H. M. Duane Larson Mayor Council President ATTEST: Theresa White City Clerk Approved October 1, 2001 rl 1 Kalispell City Council Minutes Special Meeting - September 13, 2001 Page 4 of 4