Anticipated to be welcomed with open arms, a plan to build a Volkswagen dealership in south Kalispell instead got caught up Tuesday in a crossfire over utility latecomer fees and was tabled for two weeks by Kalispell Planning Board members.

At a public hearing, developers of Old School Station Business Park and their attorney questioned the adequacy of a planned unit development that’s being proposed and must be approved for the car dealership to be built.

Their chief concern: whether the dealership and other projects around it will use the oversized water and sewer lines they built through south Kalispell at the city’s request to help serve growth in the area, and if the city will impose “latecomer fees” to reimburse them for the cost of that public infrastructure.

The proposed planned unit development and 20 recommended conditions apply to two commercial lots at the southeast corner of U.S. 93 and Lower Valley Road.

One is where the Volkswagen dealership would be built. The other is anticipated to be developed for another dealership or “professional office or commercial use complimentary to an auto dealership.”

Both lots are part of a larger 80-acre tract owned by Gardner Investments. Kalispell annexed the land with commercial zoning, but with a place holder requiring it to go through a planned unit development process.

While the proposed planned unit development does not apply to the rest of that land, a recommended condition would require it to go through the same process before it can be developed.

But critics said the plan leaves them with no clear answers and should be go into more detail, particularly about water and sewer plans for the sites.

“We have been told that there is a school of thought that this would be designed in such a way to not utilize or attempt to not utilize Old School Station infrastructure,” said attorney Ken Kalvig, representing Montana Venture Partners, the firm behind Old School Station Business Park.

“If the idea is to serve the balance of the Gardner property [in a way] that results in latecomer fees not being paid to Montana Venture Partners, that takes out a lot of property on the east side of 93 that was intended to be developed to reimburse Montana Venture Partners’ costs.”

Paul Wachholz, a founder of Old School Station, said he supports the Gardners and the DePratu project but will fight if need be for the latecomer fees Kalispell promised to collect in a broad service area in south Kalispell to repay him and others for the oversized infrastructure.

He said he wants to “make sure our agreement with Kalispell is as good as the paper it’s written on.”

Todd Gardner said the phased approach is needed, particularly with a slow economy. “We’re trying to develop it in a quality manner as there is demand for lots,” he said. He and his father, Davar, disputed any insinuation that people are trying to improperly go around any of Old School Station’s infrastructure or latecomer fees.

Before the hearing, Kalvig gave Kalispell Planning Board members a “thick book” of information about prior planned unit developments and how they historically have been treated by the city, encouraging them to consider it before making their decision as mandated by Montana law.

That was enough to chill planning board members, who voted to table the proposal.

“I can’t in good conscience go forward without reading this,” Phil Guiffrida III said. “I can’t stand to table things. It holds up the process. But this does it, which may be the intention.”

And that left Jeff Brown, one of the owners of DePratu Ford and Volkswagen, stuck on hold for two more weeks for a project envisioned to open this summer.

“I think we can do a lot for Kalispell. We built [the Toyota dealership], a good example of what we can do,” Brown said. The question becomes if Kalispell will let that happen in a timely and affordable manner.

“We’re trying to make this as quick and simple as we can,” Brown said. “A nice 11,000-square-foot building, eight techs, a detail department, a wash bay, sales and office people. A great opportunity for Kalispell and the south side of Kalispell.”

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