Lakeside council looks at town-center plan

The Lakeside Community Council tonight will consider creating a committee that would put together a Town Center Development Plan.

The recently approved Lakeside Neighborhood Plan calls for creation of a Town Center Development Plan, which would include a mix of general commercial and single or multifamily residential development.

Community Council Chairman Keith Brown said the public is invited to attend the meeting to give input or volunteer to serve on such a committee.

Two big issues concern installing a sidewalk through the town and a through street that would run north-south adjacent to U.S. 93.

Brown said the area received a grant to put a sidewalk from Blacktail Grocery to the Youth with a Mission [YWAM] building on Blacktail Road. Under consideration is whether to continue that sidewalk through downtown.

The town center area in question is north of Ben Williams Lane, east of Stoner Creek Road and Clothier Lane, and south of Saskatoon Drive.

Recommended densities include a maximum of four units per acre for single-family residential and commercial zoning, and seven units per acre for multifamily zoning.

Development should facilitate pedestrian traffic with walkways, provide ample parking for access to the town center and limit new access directly onto U.S. 93, among other things.

More information about the Town Center Development Plan is listed on pages 131-132 of the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan, which can be downloaded at flathead.mt.gov, click on “documents online,” “neighborhood plans,” and “Lakeside Neighborhood Plan Final Adopted Version.”

The Lakeside Community Council will meet at 7 p.m. in the Lakeside Sewer District office, 253 Bierney Creek Road.