A proposed casino at the Town Pump just south of Kalispell received a thumbs-down vote Tuesday from the city's planning board.

The board recommended 4-2 that the Kalispell City Council reject Montana Commerce's request for a conditional use permit to allow a casino and tavern to be built next to the Town Pump convenience store and gas station at 2910 U.S. 93 South.

However, the board recommended that the council approve the owner's request to be annexed with a general business zoning designation.

This Town Pump is in a 4,100-square-foot building. Montana Commerce wants to construct a 2,700-square-foot casino next to it. The company is primarily interested in setting up a casino there, and the state requires casinos to have a liquor license, said Montana Commerce official Lyle Cusson of Butte. The company is not interested in setting up a full-fledged bar there, he said.

JoLynn Siderius Yenne, representing the Siderius family that lives west of the site, objected to the proposed casino. She contended the casino would be too close to a residential area.

Flathead County has 54 casinos listed in the phone book, and "we don't need another," she said.

Kalispell law prohibits casinos within 300 feet of a residence. The Town Pump site is more than 300 feet from any homes in Kalispell, but less than 300 feet from a county residential area, city Planning Director Tom Jentz said.

Flathead County approved a casino for that location two years ago and the county does not have a law requiring a 300-foot buffer between casinos and homes, Jentz said.

But some board members were leery of recommending that a casino be located within 300 feet of any homes, even though they are outside Kalispell.

The city approving a casino within 300 feet of non-city homes would "not be following the spirit of the law," board members Bryan Schutt and John Hinchey said.

Schutt, Hinchey, Kari Gabriel and George Taylor voted not to recommend allowing the casino to locate there. Bob Albert and Timothy Norton voted in favor of the casino. Rick Hull was absent.

Also Tuesday, the board:

-Recommended that the council designate 1322 Whitefish Stage Road as a office-residential zone when it is annexed, instead of becoming a neighborhood buffer district zone as requested by property owners John and Bobbi Bonner. A preschool is currently at that location, which the Bonners want to sell. The Bonners believe a neighbor buffer district zoning would make the property easier to sell. But the planning board chose the office-residential designation, which is almost a clone of a neighborhood buffer district but has some tighter restrictions on potential commercial uses.

-Recommended that a conditional use permit be granted to Jody Middleton and Lori Fisher to allow them to build a 2,100-square-foot, three-unit townhouse structure next to a house at 1310 Sixth Ave. W.

-Recommended that 1624 Woodland Ave. be designated a single-family residential zone when it is annexed. The one-acre site is owned by Luther French.

-Recommended that 405 W. Evergreen Drive be designated as a single-family residential zone when annexed. The 2.54-acre site is owned by James and Karen Holmquist.