More chairs were empty than filled at a Tuesday meeting where the Kalispell Planning Board voted in favor of the Westside Neighborhood Parking Management Plan and residential on-street parking permit program.

The plan represents more than two years of effort involving west-side residents, Kalispell Public Schools and the Kalispell Planning Department to create a solution to parking congestion in the west-side neighborhood surrounding Flathead High School and Elrod Elementary School.

Packed Planning Board meetings containing hours of public comment early in the process had gradually dwindled to just a few audience members and significantly less public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.

By a 4-1 margin, with Matt Regier the lone dissenter, the board recommended that the City Council approve the plan. Regier maintained his position that a parking district is not the solution — creating enough parking spaces on school property is.

Board member Charles Pesola was absent. Board member Karlene Osorio-Khor recused herself from the vote because, as a west-side resident herself, she had been involved in resident committee meetings.

If approved by the council, the parking district will encompasses five avenues  — Third Avenue West between Fifth Street and Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue West between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.

Restrictions would not apply to streets, which would remain open to everyone with no parking permits required. 

Parking restrictions would extend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days and be limited to vehicles with permits. 

The plan “starts small,” with blocks that are severely impacted by parking congestion, Planning Director Tom Jentz said. 

Originally the plan covered about 24.5 blocks. More avenues may be added if 75 percent of residents on a given block petition the city. Residents or property owners living on streets will not have the option to petition into the district, which upset a few west-side residents in attendance at the Tuesday meeting.

Signs would be placed at the start and end of each block at a total cost of about $5,000. The city would install and maintain the signs. Revenue from purchased permits would cover the startup costs, Jentz said.

Property owners, or tenants, in the affected district may purchase up to three permits. For each paid permit, property owners receive a free guest pass. This is a change from previous proposals that didn’t cap the number of permits a person could purchase.

A fee structure for permits will be established by the City Council. Jentz displayed a table of suggested costs per permit ranging from $70 to $14 (assuming between 45 to 70 permits are purchased) based on whether the $5,000 would be paid in one or five years.

At least 75 percent of people per block must purchase at least one permit to demonstrate a continued need and inclusion in a parking district.

“There has to be involvement and investment,” Jentz said.

The plan takes roughly 106 parking spaces out of public circulation, according to Jentz, but is somewhat mitigated by the additional parking Kalispell Public Schools has agreed to add. 

The district agreed to add 35 to 58 parking spaces at Elrod School (which currently has no on-site parking) and 20 to 25 spaces at Flathead High School.

A provision in the plan includes a “special events exclusion” of permit restrictions to accommodate events with a high volume of attendance at the high school. Jentz used the example of the high school hosting a Class B basketball tournament .  

Although Osorio-Khor did not vote, she did provide her opinion as a resident and criticized the school district for “hijacking” the resident-driven process.

“The school was treated like any other resident, but what I have seen happen with this process is that the school district has not respected the collective desire of the whole neighborhood,” Osorio-Khor said. “The residents are not here. They have been discouraged. They feel this proposal has been hijacked by the school district. Terms and conditions have been imposed upon them within this proposal that they did not buy into when the committee came to their door.”

Osorio-Khor, who lives on a street, added that excluding streets from ever being added was discriminatory and prejudicial.

Kalispell Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn defended the district’s involvement and emphasized the plan is a compromise between both parties and satisfies needs of both residents and the district. Zorn said the district was asked to “bring a solution” and provide input.

“That solution is not anywhere close to what you’re seeing here. What you’re seeing here is a compromise,” Zorn said later, adding, “We have not done anything but present our ideas in a respectful manner.”

West-side resident committee member Devin Kuntz agreed that the plan was not perfect but said, “We have to meet somewhere in the middle or we’re not going to effect any change,” before adding that he would also like to see streets be considered in the plan. 

Kuntz noted some additional changes he wanted to see, including that costs should be shared by all taxpayers and worked into the city budget — not limited to west-side residents and property owners.

“I think this is a community problem by and large and if we’re going to effect a good solution that it should just be on taxpayers in general,” Kuntz said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.