Kalispell planners warn of impending parking crunch
May 15—Kalispell officials are warning that on-street parking is in jeopardy thanks to a bill awaiting the governor's signature that limits off-street parking requirements on new construction.
The piece of legislation, House Bill 492, came up during the Kalispell Planning Commission's Tuesday meeting as members mulled over the preliminary draft land use plan required by the Montana Land Use Planning Act.
The act, which was signed into law in 2023, requires 10 Montana cities — including Kalispell — to draft a new land use plan that emphasizes boosting housing supply.
The city is required to adopt at least five of 14 potential zoning ordinances meant to stoke development, like reducing setback areas and lot size, or allowing apartments on single-family lots. Residents can peruse and vote on each regulation on the dedicated city webpage (engagekalispell.com/#tab-59610).
But an ordinance outlined in the act that limits parking regulations may become law regardless.
House Bill 492, sponsored by Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, was introduced in February and would limit city parking requirements to one space per dwelling unit in new construction. It would also eliminate any parking requirements for child care, deed-restricted housing, assisted living or residential units under 1,200 square feet.
While developers have in the past built more parking than required, Development Services Director Jarod Nygren said he sees a potential for opportunistic developers to buy up infill and not allocate any parking, which would push cars out onto the city streets.
If that becomes reality, Nygren said the city would eventually need to look at outlawing on-street parking, particularly if it begins affecting the city's ability to provide services like plowing or responding to emergencies.
City officials expressed confusion as to why the bill was passed in a state with limited public transit.
"It seems like another [law] that was borrowed from a city where you can walk out of your apartment, jump on the train or walk to work," said Planning Commission Vice President Rory Young.
Kalispell city officials were not keen on some of the other zoning regulations the state Legislature wants cities to adopt under the Montana Land Use Planning Act.
Nygren criticized the law for prompting a "balancing act" of guiding new, diverse, development without remolding historic single-family neighborhoods and stripping away aesthetic amenities.
"We shouldn't be building housing just for the sake of housing, it should still be quality," Nygren said.
A potential ordinance allowing for three- and four-unit apartments wherever a single-family residence is allowed drew criticism for threatening the character of old neighborhoods.
"This takes an eastside, historic, single-family home and says you can tear down and build a fourplex," Nygren said. But the process is time consuming and expensive for any developer, and he predicted it would not result in attainable housing.
Planning Commission President Chad Graham was also an adamant no to the potential ordinance.
Homeowner associations are exempt from adhering to some of the ordinances, which Graham worried would disproportionally affect historic neighborhoods while letting newer subdivisions off the hook.
The ordinance to reduce setback areas by 25% was also looked down upon by city officials and the public, according to community feedback.
Assistant Development Services Director PJ Sorensen said the regulation may impede space needed for utilities, buffers and other infrastructure. Planning Commission member Pip Burke argued that people still need access around the outside of their house.
Nygren said that the setback ordinance, among others, disregard institutional knowledge around fire safety, noise and light for the sake of increasing housing density.
Many of the ordinances, though, the city already implements in some form, Sorensen said.
For instance, the city encourages denser development around community hubs like business centers and named "transit corridors." Kalispell also allows multi-family housing in commercial zones through a permit process.
THE COMMISSION also appeared in favor of a developer's proposal to expand a subdivision in south Kalispell.
Colton Behr, developer of the Anderson Ranch subdivision that was OK'd by Council in September 2024, is looking to annex 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, resides on a 100-year flood zone and is intended only for parkland 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.
The subdivision shares a planned unit development with Todd Gardner, who owns property directly west that will see an Amazon distribution warehouse go up in the future.
A public hearing on the extension is scheduled for June 10.
Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 or junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hearing set June 12 in CARD Clinic seizure; sheriff's sale set for July 2
Jun. 6—A federal judge in Missoula will hear arguments next week dealing with BNSF's attempts to seize the assets of Libby's CARD Clinic. The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, May 12, in the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse. Judge Dana L. Christensen will hear the case. Also, Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short signed a notice Thursday, June 5, giving notice to a sheriff's sale July 2 to the highest bidder to satisfy the judgment for the plaintiff, BNSF, with interest and costs. While the date is subject to change pending an order from the court, the sale is currently set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 2. According to Montana code, the sheriff's office has 120 days from the day it received the writ to conduct the sale. The sale will include the real property as well as office equipment, furnishings, and other machinery, fixtures and equipment. For more information, contact the sheriff's office at 406-293-4112, ext. 1232. The non-profit clinic, which has served thousands of patients afflicted with asbestosis and other deadly ailments, has been closed since May 7 when the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office served a Writ of Execution on the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Inc. to satisfy a $3.1 million judgment. A writ of execution is a court order directing a sheriff to seize and sell property to satisfy a judgment. The judgment stems from a lawsuit won in 2023 by Texas-based BNSF, owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, that accused the clinic of filing hundreds of fraudulent claims over several years. Federal jurors ruled two years ago that the clinic made or presented false claims 337 times, including 91 violations after November 2015. CARD filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2023, allowing it to continue operations. But the United States intervened in the bankruptcy proceeding and determined that the judgment should not be paid, so the bankruptcy was settled and dismissed in spring 2024. In September 2024, CARD lost an appeal to a jury's 2023 judgment. In the meantime, CARD officials recently found another location to serve its patients. It is located at 118 West 3rd Street. It will be open the same hours as the clinic, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. "We are still receiving grant money and we have a mission to fulfill so we're pleased we can still offer some services," McNew said. "Patients are welcome to stop in and we'll work to answer their questions." McNew said they are able to answer emails from patients and send test results to patients. She also hopes that they will be able to continue outreach education. Another hope is that the new location will have working phones next week. McNew said since the seizure of the clinic, BNSF has taken at least $100,000 from the clinic's operating account. In a May 9 court filing, Billings-based Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Smith and Lynsey Ross filed a motion in Lincoln County District Court to quash the court's writ on the CARD Clinic. In the motion, the attorneys said it contacted BNSF attorney Cole Anderson and requested the company withdraw the application. But the company declined and objected to the motion. "In 2023, a Montana jury found that the CARD clinic had submitted false asbestos claims costing taxpayers millions of dollars. The judge determined the amount of damages to be repaid, and the process for recovery is set by law," said Kendall Sloan, BNSF Director of External Communicatons. According to a declaration by CARD Executive Director Tracy McNew filed with the motion to quash, she reported that all CARD employees were compelled to vacate the clinic May 7 following the seizure and the sheriff's office replaced all of the locks. Thursday, May 8, following a request, certain CARD employees were allowed to enter the clinic to access the CARD Quickbooks accounting program. McNew said sheriff's office officers monitored CARD employees activities and once they were done using the accounting program, they left the office and haven't returned. In a May 20 filing in federal court in Missoula, CARD's attorney, James A. Patten of Patten, Peterman, Bekkedahl and Green, a Billings firm, sought to join the federal motion to quash the writ and sought a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. CARD argues that the railway's writ violates bankruptcy proceedings and applicable law. It is seeking the injunction and restraining order to prevent further harm upon CARD and the wrongful interference with the clinic due to its status as a federal grant recipient. In 2011, CARD was chosen by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for a four-year grant for a screening program for environmental health hazards, including asbestosis, pleural thickening and pleural plaques, caused by exposure to hazardous substances at Libby's Superfund sites. The federal grants continued with the most recent reward in September 2024. It will run through August 2029. The argument also includes the harm the clinic will suffer because it cannot screen patients, provide education, monitor diagnosed patients and provide follow up of testing results and respond to patient requests. In another declaration by McNew, she said the clinic had to cancel about 50 appointments per week since the May 7 closure. It also said the clinic's pulmonary function testing equipment, the only of its kind in Lincoln County, has sat unused as a result of BNSF's seizure. "CARD has on several occasions identified patients in need of emergency care and/or serious treatment for previously undiagnosed malignancies as part of our routine screenings," McNew wrote. BNSF replied to the clinic's filings in a 53-page document filed May 30 in federal court. Among its arguments, railway attorneys Knight Nicastro MacKay maintain because the federal government didn't intervene in the original lawsuit, it doesn't have a right to stop BNSF from recovering money from the judgment. "The Government begins by claiming that litigation in which the United States is a party is reserved to the officers of the Department of Justice, under the direction of the Attorney General, citing U.S. statute. But BNSF attorneys say federal attorneys left out a relevant portion of the statue which directly applies. It reads, "Except as otherwise authorized by law, the conduct of litigation in which the United States, an agency, or officer thereof is a party, or is interested, and securing evidence therefor, is reserved to officers of the Department of Justice, under the direction of the Attorney General." They also say because CARD has mixed its grant income with non-grant income that it must prove its bank accounts and property represent only grant money. During the 2023 trial, a number of donations from plaintiff attorneys were revealed. From 2012 to 2017, the clinic received $81,000 from attorneys and $30,000 for a mortality study. Dr. Brad Black, CARD's former medical director, testified to $116,000 in donations from Montana plaintiff attorneys. The list didn't include two $10,0000 donations from a national plaintiffs' law firm or a $24,381.94 donation for the clinic's new parking lot. BNSF also believes CARD has received its most significant non-grant income in the form of Medicare payments for treating its patients. "This is the equivalent of personal income for CARD and the amount of this income what property it was used to buy is still unknown to BNSF," the attorneys argued. Railway attorneys also said they do not intend to use grant funds to satisfy the judgment or ask to liquidate CARD assets pending the federal court's review of whether grant funds were mixed with non-grant funds to secure the assets. Gold miners discovered vermiculite in Libby in 1881. In the 1920s, the Zonolite Company formed and began mining the vermiculite. In 1963, W.R. Grace bought the Zonolite mining operations. The mine closed in 1990. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency placed the site on the Superfund program's National Priorities List and cleanup work continues to this day. Fibers from the asbestos tied to vermiculite mining that began in the 1920s can embed in lung tissue and cause fatal lung disease. No one knows how many people in the region have died from the effects of asbestosis, mesothelioma or other cancers linked to exposure to asbestos-containing vermiculite mined, processed and shipped from Lincoln County and Libby. BNSF's involvement relates to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in the rail yard that a 2024 federal jury said was a considerable factor in the negligent deaths of former Libby residents Thomas Wells and Joyce Walder. Both Wells and Walder lived near the railyard and were both diagnosed with mesothelioma and died in 2020. Hundreds of people died and more than 3,000 were sickened from asbestos exposure in the Libby area, according to researchers and health officials. BNSF faces accusations of negligence and wrongful death for failing to control clouds of contaminated dust that used to swirl from the rail yard and settle across Libby's neighborhoods. The vermiculite was shipped by rail from Libby for use as insulation in homes and businesses across the U.S.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Trump Approves Expansion of Scandal-Hit Coal Mine
The Trump administration on Friday greenlighted the expansion of a scandal-hit underground coal mine in Montana, one of the nation's largest, cutting short a federal environmental review and putting into action a key element of President Trump's plan to revive America's coal industry. In the past, the mine has been embroiled in allegations involving bribery, cocaine trafficking, firearms violations and the faked kidnapping of an executive. The administration's decision would extend the life of the Bull Mountain coal mine, which employs 250 people outside Billings, by nine years, the Interior Department said. It would allow the mine's operator, Signal Peak Energy, to mine nearly 60 million tons of coal, mostly for export to Asia. 'This is what energy leadership looks like,' Doug Burgum, the Interior Secretary, said in a statement. He said Mr. Trump's declaration, in January, of a national energy emergency 'is allowing us to act decisively, cut bureaucratic delays and secure America's future through energy independence and strategic exports.' Citing the emergency declaration, Mr. Trump has directed the government to expedite permitting of new oil and gas drilling sites and pipelines, as well as coal mines, which would typically be subject to analysis of potential environmental harm as well as public comment. Energy experts have questioned whether the country does face an energy emergency. Environmental groups, which had pushed to halt the expansion of the Bull Mountain mine, condemned the decision. They pointed to how its operator had repeatedly violated worker-safety, pollution and environmental regulations. Coal is also the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, and a major driver of global climate change. The coal industry's decline had been helping to drive down the country's carbon dioxide emissions. 'This is yet another disastrous decision by an administration that does not respect the rule of law,' said Shiloh Hernandez, senior attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental nonprofit. 'Allowing it to expand will inflict further harm on the residents of the Bull Mountains and deepen the climate crisis.' Parker Phipps, Signal Peak's president and chief executive, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Signal Peak Energy had separately sued the federal government, saying the Interior Department needed to speed up its approval of the mine's expansion plans. A federal judge last year dismissed the mine's request to force a speedier review of its expansion, which involves federal coal leases. The Interior Department had said it would complete its environmental review by May 2026. On Friday the Trump administration curtailed that review and gave the mine expansion the go-ahead. Mr. Trump has signed executive orders aimed at expanding coal mining in the United States, including prioritizing coal mining on federal land.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Senate GOP Sorts Out Which Poison Pills It Can Swallow To Pass House's ‘Big Beautiful' Bill
Senate Republicans began the work this week of deciphering what exactly House Republicans' have stuffed into President Trump's massive spending package — and what elements of it they can live with. One thing is clear: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Republican leadership have their work cut out for them. And in a few key cases, senators might soon find themselves caught between what Trump demands of them, and what's good for their reelection prospects. Similar to the competing pain points that surfaced among members of the House Republican conference, several Senate Republicans have gone on the record to object in various ways to either the bill's extensive gutting of social safety net programs or — on the other end of the spectrum — the extent to which it will add to the deficit, a Republican sin many in the party have built their brands opposing. At this point, it looks almost inevitable that senators will make changes to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which House Republicans drafted after weeks of intraparty quarrels. That means the House will have to vote on the bill again. Any major shifts could backfire, breaking the delicate balance on which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) built the bill. Thune can only lose three votes from his caucus and still pass the legislation. Here are four places in which Republicans are likely to have to cut a deal, potentially tweaking just how destructive the final bill is. Several Senate Republicans have been publicly declaring that they are opposed to the ways in which the bill currently cuts social safety net programs, while, in most cases, still suggesting there are some cuts they'd support. Several Republican senators, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), have already indicated they won't get behind certain kinds of cuts to Medicaid and other programs, which are widely utilized by their constituents. 'I am not going to vote for Medicaid benefit cuts,' Hawley told reporters in the Senate basement in March. 'Work requirements, I'm totally fine with. But 21% of Missourians either get Medicaid or CHIP so I am not going to vote for benefit cuts for people who I think are qualified.' Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) has made similar statements, telling reporters on Wednesday that he is ok with freezing the provider taxes House Republicans took up in their bill but not cutting them back. Meanwhile Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who recently announced a gubernatorial bid in his state, has said he is opposed to the way in which the legislation cuts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The House bill includes deep cuts to that program, including a cost-sharing plan that would require states to cover a portion of SNAP benefit costs; the benefits are currently completely covered by the federal government. 'Everybody that's going to be in state government is going to be concerned about it,' Tuberville said, according to Politico. 'I don't know whether we can afford it or not.' In recent days, some Senate Republicans have also indicated that they are exploring ideas to slash what they claim is 'waste, fraud and abuse' in Medicare —- despite President Donald Trump's previous vows to 'love and cherish' the program and promises not to touch it. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) on Thursday said that Republicans are looking at changes to Medicare, telling The Hill there are 'a number' of reforms he'd like to see to programs maintained by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 'I think anything that can be — that's waste, fraud and abuse are open to, obviously, discussions,' Thune also told reporters of Medicare. Meanwhile Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) took a stronger stance, saying Republicans shouldn't be afraid of cutting waste from the program. 'Why don't we go after that? I think we should,' Cramer told NBC. 'Some people are afraid of the topics; I'm not,' he added, noting that they would focus on waste, fraud and abuse. That phrase — 'waste, fraud and abuse' — has, of course, become the go-to terminology for Republicans who want to justify their cuts to largely popular programs, despite the fact that rooting out supposed 'waste, fraud and abuse' roughly translates to hidden, hard-for-the-public-to-understand cuts. This new proposal, too, is already stirring some pushback. 'What a terrible idea. We should not be touching Medicare,' Hawley told NBC. Sens. John Curtis (R-UT), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Tillis and Murkowski have warned leadership about provisions of the bill that would gut Biden-era clean energy tax credits passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. The House bill's cuts were largely added to the House bill at the last minute in order to appease House Freedom Caucus members who were threatening to sink the bill on the House floor unless leadership made more cuts. They include plans to repeal residential energy-focused credits and several electric vehicle-related credits — both used by individual taxpayers — as well as almost immediately phasing out the clean electricity production and investment tax credit that aims to boost zero-emission electricity production from industry, utilities and manufacturing. 'I want to make sure that we are making good on the investments that we have made with those tax credits,' Murkowski told reporters in the Senate basement on Wednesday when asked about the tax credits. Meanwhile, Tillis — one of the most vulnerable Republicans in 2026 — on Wednesday indicated he wanted to see negotiations around the requirements and duration for the programs in question. He also specifically called out the foreign entity restrictions House Republicans put in the bill, which experts described to TPM as a 'bad faith' and 'unworkable' provision that Republicans say will prevent nations like China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from having access to the tax subsidies. Tillis described them as 'a big problem.' 'As I understand it, the level of granularity proposed by the House renders the programs inoperative,' Tillis told reporters on his way up to a floor vote. While several Senate Republicans are opposing cuts to programs that are crucial for their states, others, on the other end of the spectrum, are calling for more spending cuts than what are included in the House Republican package. (These Republicans have, lately, found a surprising ally in the president's erstwhile advisor, Elon Musk.) Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) are loudly asking for deeper cuts, saying they are worried about the impact of the megabill on the deficit. 'I refuse to accept $2 trillion-plus deficits as far as the eye can see as the new normal. We have to address that problem, and unfortunately this bill doesn't do so,' Johnson, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said Wednesday during an ABC News interview. Paul has made a career of libertarian budget hawkery, and is objecting, in particular, to a provision of the bill that raises the debt ceiling, something that must happen this summer in order for the U.S. to avoid default. He has previously indicated he does not believe 'expanding the debt ceiling more than we've ever done it before' is fiscally conservative. 'This will be the greatest increase in the debt ceiling ever, and the GOP owns this now,' Paul told reporters after the House passed their version of the bill.
