Council gets an earful on impact fees

Twenty-one people pitched several different scenarios Monday to the Kalispell City Council about how the city should approach a controversial road impact fee proposal.

Fifteen wanted to eliminate or trim the proposal in some way. Six supported the fees presented in a consultant's study.

The majority of the 21 had spoken in past public hearings on the subject.

Many in Monday's majority came from the development and business community.

Seven definitely wanted to eliminate the proposed fees altogether. Three wanted to delay them until the economy turns Kalispell back into a booming, growing city. Another person supported either eliminating or delaying the fees.

Two supported a grandfather clause that would exempt projects currently on the drawing board, or at least had preliminary plats issued. Three opposed that idea.

Joe Unterreiner, director of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, said: "This plan unfairly targets business, especially retail business. … This plan is too flawed and the timing is poor."

Kalispell resident John De Neeve said: "You're slowly letting developers punch holes [in the proposal] with their opinions. … the developers won't build anyway because the market is horrible."

The council did not discuss the topic after Monday's hearing. At a March 9 special meeting, the council expects to discuss and then vote on one of three scenarios for the road-impact fees.

The scenarios are:

- Adopting the fees as presented in a consultant's study.

- Exempting projects that had preliminary plats approved between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2009, for six years after the approval date. Preliminary plats were granted after July 1, 2004, to Glacier Town Center's main outdoor shopping complex, Hutton Ranch Plaza, Spring Prairie Center and 1,645 homes that include northern Kalispell's Silverbrook Estates project.

- Charging only 75 percent of the proposed impact fees for any developer who applies for a building permit by April 1, 2011.