A permit request for Brannigan’s Pub to open an upstairs dining area with gaming machines and card table rooms will go before the Kalispell City Council with the support of the Kalispell Planning Board.

So will the pub’s request that Kalispell loosen a rule limiting the size of accessory-use casinos.

The advisory Kalispell Planning Board on Tuesday backed both requests as good business-friendly moves.

“I believe any way we can help a business thrive more in that core area, especially in a way that won’t physically affect that community, that street, is a good thing,”  Planning Board member Charles Pesola said.

Brannigan’s Pub opened last November in the renovated Loading Dock building, across from Depot Park on First Avenue East.

The pub is asking for the conditional use permit that’s needed for a business to open an accessory-use casino within 300 feet of a church, school, park, residential zone or another casino in Kalispell.

It’s also asking Kalispell to loosen a rule that limits how big accessory-use casinos can be, doubling the allowable size from 10 percent to 20 percent of a business’s gross square footage.

In the past, Kalispell offered no permit for accessory-use casinos if a business was within 300 feet of a church, school, park, residential zone or another casino. Five or six years ago the city set up the conditional use permit and its 10 percent limit, Planning Director Tom Jentz told Kalispell Planning Board members on Tuesday.

“Really, this is that next step. You’re doubling that size. This is the first request we’ve had to increase it. It’s baby steps. But we’re coming from an era where you couldn’t have any,” Jentz said.

The owners of Brannigan’s Pub said in their application that the 10 percent restriction would not provide enough floor space for its gaming and card table rooms.

The proposed accessory-use casino and others like it would still be subject to restrictions on signs, entrances and landscaping. Kalispell’s zoning ordinance also says accessory-use casinos must be shielded or screened from the business’s primary use area and customers.

Phil Guiffrida III, a member of both the Kalispell Planning Board and the Kalispell City Council, said the requested change would be a positive and responsible zoning change, especially for small businesses.

“This is only changing the percentage of this overall regulation. There are still really good parts of this staying intact that help the community. We’re not changing any of that,” he said.

Chad Graham, chairman of the Kalispell Planning Board, said he supports the pub’s expansion. “This is a good use for downtown, a good use for this building. If we’re going to continue to revitalize downtown, this is the kind of growth we need,” he said.

Both requests cleared the Kalispell Planning Board with a 4-1 vote. They were opposed by Matt Regier. Member Rory Young recused himself from the discussion and votes because his employer has been involved with the Brannigan’s Pub project.

IN OTHER business, the Kalispell Planning Board held a brief work session to discuss the Volkswagen dealership that DePratu Ford and Volkswagen plans to build in south Kalispell.

The dealership would be built on an eight-acre property at the southeast corner of U.S. 93 and Lower Valley Road. The site is part of a larger, 82-acre property Kalispell annexed several years ago with a planned unit development overlay. That requires the site plans to go through a public hearing process and be approved by the Kalispell City Council.

A formal public hearing is expected to be held at the Planning Board’s meeting in March.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.