Housing and commercial development goes to Kalispell planning board

A youth center, hotel, gas station, restaurant and housing are among the uses in a development proposed for roughly 40 acres on the north end of Kalispell.

The property located at the corner of Church Drive and U.S. 93 is undeveloped and lies just north of Silverbrook Estates.

The Kalispell Planning Board is set to consider the multi-use project, called the Farm District, during its meeting Tuesday. The board meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 201 First Avenue East.

Kelcey and Tawnya Bingham have submitted an application to the city for annexation, initial zoning of B-2 general business with a commercial planned unit development overlay for the property that is 37.6-acres in size. The project has the potential for 102 residential units.

The proposed development is centered around the youth athletic and arts center. The space would let local club sports practice year-round and allows for all types of art making, the application for the project says. The commercial uses and residential spaces would be intended to support the neighborhood and the youth athletic and arts facility.

The commercial uses include a small neighborhood grocery store, a restaurant/brew pub, a boutique hotel, small gas station and some office space. The office space is expected to be on the first floor with residential use on the second floor.

The western edge of the project features townhouse and cottage home designs geared to workforce housing with smaller floor plans and yard areas, the application notes.

The plan calls for 70 townhouses or multi-family units along the western edge of the property. The center portion of the property would be for both commercial and residential development with 32 multi-family residential units on the second floor of the buildings.

The planning staff report notes that higher intensity uses are focused along the highway and Church Drive, with no direct access onto the highway, and residential focused along the western property boundary. There is a 100-foot wide landscape buffer along the highway.

There is a conservation easement on the farmland to the west and Majestic Valley Arena is to the north.

“The project has a complete system of pedestrian and bike paths both along the adjoining streets and interior to the site, which also includes a central park area that provides pedestrian connectivity between the youth center and the hotel, restaurant, small grocery store and other commercial uses,” the planning report notes.

The Farm District proposes a central green space and park at 2.75 acres and an area for outdoor youth activities just west of the youth center. Open space buffers are planned along transportation corridors totaling about 8 acres.

Expected to be developed in six phases, the project is slated to begin this year with work running through 2028. The youth athletic and arts center is set to be constructed first, followed by commercial areas of the project and then housing.

THE BOARD will also consider a commercial planned unit development overlay on about 9.72 acres at 3178 U.S. 93 South for a proposed truck and RV center. The property is located on U.S. 93 near the south end of the bypass.

JCA Management LLC is requesting the PUD to develop Noeller Truck and RV on the vacant property. The property also fronts Basecamp Drive with access to the bypass.

Montana Basecamp RV Park is immediately to the west. A small light industrial building sits adjacent to the northeast corner of the property.

A request by Spartan Holdings to amend the Eagle Valley Ranch PUD to include the addition of 6.78 acres is also on the agenda. Spartan is requesting a growth policy map amendment as well and annexation and initial zoning for the property at 3201 U.S. 93 North.

The developer of Eagle Valley Ranch has acquired land adjacent to their development that includes Home Outfitters, which has sat empty since 2012, and is requesting it be included in the subdivision planned to include single-family and multifamily housing. The property is 1.35 acres.

The developer is looking to extend the RA-2 zoning to the property that is intended to accommodate small-scale commercial spaces as a transition into the single-family housing lots.

The Eagle Valley Ranch project calls for the development of 64 acres in several phases along the U.S. 93 corridor, north of Kalispell North Town Center. The project includes a combination of single-family lots, multifamily units and commercial properties.

A MOBILE home community, known as Morning Star Community, will also go before the planning board as it requests annexation into the city and initial R-4 residential zoning. The community is located at 1717 South Woodland Drive and is just under 6 acres in size.

The proposal is to annex the existing mobile home community to allow for the units to connect to the city sewer system. The community includes 41 residential units.

The board will also take public comments, as required by the Montana Environmental Policy Act, on the community’s plan to abandon aged onsite water and wastewater infrastructure to connect to city services. The project will be explained and the environmental review findings at the meeting.

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.