Ready, set, grow

By JOHN STANG

By year's end, Kalispell will have nearly doubled its 1980 population

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell is bulging at the seams.

The city's population is expected to hit 20,000 by the end of this year.

And as many as 8,000 potential homes - within Kalispell's few remaining open areas or just outside of the city limits - are somewhere between the daydreaming and brainstorming stages.

"Eight thousand lots - that's darn near the city of Kalispell," said Tom Jentz, the city's planning director.

Mayor Pam Kennedy and Jentz spoke about the city's booming growth Tuesday to roughly 240 people at a Kalispell Chamber of Commerce lunch at the Red Lion Hotel.

"The character of Kalispell is going to be challenged. We have to ensure that the character of Kalispell remains the same," Kennedy said.

Kalispell's population was 10,689 in 1980, 11,917 in 1990, 14,223 in 2000 and is predicted to grow to 20,000 by Dec. 31, Jentz said.

The city has filled most of the space within its limits, and faces developers outside of the town who want to be annexed to take advantage of Kalispell's utilities and services.

The growth spurt has contributed to the city's 2.7 percent unemployment rate and a slight decrease this year in Kalispell's property tax rates.

But that growth has led to increasing traffic problems, less green spaces about the city, economic pressure to build just outside of Kalispell, and northern Kalispell along U.S. 93 replacing Evergreen as the immediate area's leading retail center.

"People are coming. Where do we put them? That's what the [Kalispell city] council faces," Jentz said.

Jentz cited several figures and trends to showcase the city's growth:

. Flathead County's population grew from 59,218 in 1990 to likely 87,000 by this December - not counting people living elsewhere with second homes in the county. The 47 percent growth in the county in the past 17 years is the second fastest rate among Montana's counties.

. From 2000 to 2005, Whitefish's population has grown 40.4 percent, Kalispell's population has grown 29.9 percent, Columbia Falls' has grown 21.8 percent, and rural Flathead County's has grown 3.1 percent. Consequently, the county's three cities are absorbing most of the incoming people.

. The city's planning department is reviewing and working on projects totaling roughly 900 potential houses. That's more than the city processed in the 1990s, Jentz said.

. The planning department expects to soon receive a preliminary plan to build 800 homes on 85 acres that Las Vegas-based Southwest Homes Inc. bought from the state in June. That land is south of the Glacier High School site.

. The planning department expects to receive requests for preliminary plats - city-ordered conditions to begin planning a project in detail - for roughly 1,500 homes in the next few months. There are more general concept plans floating around to develop another 4,500 city homes. And the city is aware of preliminary research for projects that might add another 2,500 homes to Kalispell.

. North Kalispell, straddling U.S. 93, is becoming the city's new commercial center. The Mountain View Plaza is filled and the Hutton Ranch Plaza is being built to the immediate south. Other businesses and a new U.S. Forest Service building are earmarked for the Lowe's-Glacier High School area. At least three bank branches, two hotels, a 14-screen theater and an auto dealership - plus many other ventures - are planned for the area. Across West Reserve Drive to the north are 600 acres just outside Kalispell city limits. The city wants to encourage commercial and office development on the 600 acres, but a petition drive is being put together to decrease the commercial development to be allowed there.

. Commercial construction is going on elsewhere in Kalispell. Heritage Bank will open a branch at the Kalispell's Center Mall. A Hilton Garden hotel-restaurant-convention complex is in the works next to Kalispell City Airport. Montana Furniture and the state human and health services department plan construction in southern Kalispell. And the Old School Station industrial park is in its infancy on an island of city land two miles south of the rest of Kalispell.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com