A proposed business park with the potential for a hotel development near Glacier Park International Airport will be the focus of a Flathead County Planning Board public hearing on Jan. 8.

Bill Reddig is asking for preliminary plat approval of Glacier International Business Park, a 10-lot commercial subdivision. The 29.6-acre site half a mile southeast of the airport wraps around the west and south sides of Jagz restaurant. The site has frontage on U.S. 2 and Birch Grove Road.

The project was first approved in 2008 but the preliminary plat expired a couple of years ago, planner Alex Hogle said.

There is a scenic corridor overlay on the property, which affects only off-premise billboard advertising and cellular tower placement, Hogle said. The property, a mixture of open fields and wooded land, otherwise is unzoned county land. One existing home on the property would be removed.

All of the lots would be served by individual or shared water wells, except for Lot 1 along U.S. 2, which would use a public water supply system. The proposed water and wastewater system would be subject to review and approval by the county Environmental Health Department and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

An internal road system called Tarmac Loop would connect to both Birch Grove Road and U.S. 2. A traffic impact study estimated 100 vehicle trips per day would be generated by the business park, according to the planning staff report. Crash data for U.S. 2 don’t indicate any safety concerns, so the traffic study didn’t recommend any modifications to existing roads or intersections.

The Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett Building, 1035 First Ave. W., Kalispell.

The staff report and site map are available online on the county website, http://flathead.mt.gov; click on the Planning and Zoning Department and go to meeting information.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.