Kalispell Planning Commission to weigh new housing rules
May 13—The Kalispell Planning Commission on Tuesday is expected to weigh regulations streamlining residential development as part of the city's preliminary draft land use plan.
The Montana Land Use Planning Act, signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte in 2023, required 10 Montana cities, including Kalispell, to draft a new plan that places a particular focus on housing and is influenced largely through community engagement.
The commission convenes on May 13 at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.
A dedicated city webpage (engagekalispell.com/#tab-59610) allows residents to pick and choose from 14 zoning regulations identified in the act that they believe would most effectively promote attainable housing in Kalispell.
The city is required to adopt a minimum of five out of 14 regulations. Potential ordinances include allowing apartments as permitted use in office and commercial zones, higher density housing near community hubs like colleges or public transit, and having tiny houses defined in building code.
The housing section of the draft plan is aimed at increasing access to attainable housing for all income levels, according to a memo from city planner Donnie McBath. The plan supports compact and connected neighborhoods through infill development, redevelopment of underused sites and higher-density housing near services and transportation corridors.
Recent development has eased the housing market, but affordability, limited vacancy and an imbalance in the geographic distribution of housing types remain key issues, according to McBath.
While the rental vacancy rate sits at a tight 1.1%, close to 30% of Kalispell's total land area remains vacant, amounting to around 2,500 acres. Nearly all of that land has zoning designations that support housing.
"This available land base presents a significant opportunity for accommodating future residential, commercial and public facility needs," wrote Development Services Director Jarod Nygren in a memo.
Kalispell's population is expected to grow by around 19,000 residents by 2045, prompting the need for between 8,800 and 10,000 new housing units, according to McBath.
Between 2021 and 2025, City Hall approved roughly 7,500 new residential units, which was a significant step toward meeting that growth, according to Nygren.
The city is currently home to an estimated 15,847 dwellings, which consists of 60% single-family homes, 30% multifamily units and 10% manufactured or mobile homes, according to the memo.
The Montana Land Use Planning Act has drawn criticism from city officials for limiting public input on site-specific developments and instead frontloads public involvement in developing a plan. The law ends public hearings in front of Council on site-specific construction, which includes subdivisions.
That provision was ruled unconstitutional by a district court judge in Bozeman earlier this year, though, leaving city planners with unanswered questions on how site-specific projects should be approached.
THE COMMISSION also will hear a proposal from the developer of a subdivision south of Kalispell looking to expand its neighborhood.
Colton Behr, developer of the Anderson Ranch subdivision that was OK'd by Council in September 2024, is looking to add 12 acres to the 31-acre property that resides on the west side of Demersville Road and just south of Lower Valley Road.
The extension, which is at the south end of the property, is meant to get the development in line with the city's growth policy, which designates four housing units per acre. The bulk of the new property is within a 100-year flood zone but will only be used for parkland, open space and stormwater detention, according to the development proposal.
The entire subdivision stakes out 166 lots for single-family detached dwellings. The homes will be 1,600 square feet or less on 4,500-square-foot lots, "which equates to small homes on small lots that can provide more attainable housing options for residents of Kalispell," according to the subdivision proposal.
Neighboring units will share a driveway to preserve area for on-street parking. The neighborhood is expected to bring roughly 56 students to the K-12 school system at full buildout and will generate about 1,600 daily vehicle trips, according to a traffic study done last fall.
The PUD proposes 13.31 acres of parkland along the south side of the property.
The subdivision shares a planned unit development with Todd Gardner, who owns property directly west. The combined planned unit development amounts to 95-acres zoned for residential, industrial and commercial uses.
An Amazon distribution warehouse is being built on the Gardner-owned property. The one-story building is set to be about 28,000 square feet and located on United Drive near Fred's Applicance.
The property will also see some road work, including an east/west road connecting U.S. 93 with Demersville Road, which may be fitted with a traffic signal. Another traffic signal will also be built on the portion of road meeting Demersville Road and Bar H Drive.
Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 or junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.
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