Kalispell Planning Board members on Tuesday said they support a plan for DePratu Ford and Volkswagen to build a new dealership in south Kalispell.

The planned unit development needed for the project to proceed was reluctantly tabled at a public hearing two weeks ago when it got caught in a crossfire with Old School Station developer Paul Wachholz and his attorney Ken Kalvig.

Wachholz and Kalvig questioned the level of detail contained in the planning document and whether the dealership and other developments on the site will use oversized water and sewer lines built by Old School Station — and pay latecomer fees to do so.

Kalvig gave Planning Board members a six-inch binder of information about past planned unit developments and encouraged them to consider it — as required by Montana law — before making their decision.

The Planning Board scheduled the special meeting to keep the Glacier Volkswagen project moving.

The board ultimately decided the planned unit development and its 20 conditions are appropriate given the size of the proposed project and that questions about water and sewer and latecomer fees would be better handled by the city’s Public Works Department when that time comes.

“That’s outside the scope of what we would discuss,” said Phil Guiffrida III, a member of the Planning Board and the Kalispell City Council. “What we look at is the basics. Does this property have adequate infrastructure in proximity that can be used, and the answer is yes.”

The planned unit development applies to two tracts totaling 7.6 acres at the southeast corner of U.S. 93 and Lower Valley Road. With a favorable recommendation from the advisory planning board, it is expected to go to the Kalispell City Council for approval on April 15.

The two tracts are part of 80 acres owned by Gardner Investments. The rest of that land also must go through a planned unit development process before it can be developed.

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