A plan to offer 144 senior condominiums in 60-foot-high buildings behind Shopko in Evergreen is in the works, with a proposed zone change and planned-unit development overlay headed to the Flathead County Planning Board July 11.

Jackola Engineering and Architecture, on behalf of property owner Curtis Lund, board chairman and interim chief executive officer of Kalispell Regional Healthcare, is asking for a zone change to accommodate the Evergreen Senior Condominiums project. The 11.36-acre tract between Shopko and Spring Creek currently is zoned general business with an Evergreen Enterprise Overlay and one-family limited residential. The developer is requesting community business zoning with an Evergreen Enterprise Overlay, according to Flathead County Planning Office documents.

The Evergreen Enterprise Overlay zoning was put in place five years ago to give property owners more flexibility in developing Evergreen property.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing first on the zone change and then will consider a request for a planned-unit development overlay that would deviate from the maximum structure height of 35 feet to allow a height of 60 feet.

The property currently is developed with three homes and otherwise is vacant grassland. It’s located about three-quarters of a mile east of Kalispell city limits, in the Willow Glen Zoning District.

If the zone change and planned-unit development win a favorable recommendation from the Planning Board and approval from the county commissioners, the project then will proceed further through the planning process to obtain a required conditional-use permit. Lund will be required to submit a site plan with the application for a conditional-use permit that would address the proposed land use in more detail, according to the planning staff report.

Not known yet is how many stories the condominium buildings would have, or how much of the building height would include architectural features. Planning documents indicate the first floor of each building would be used for parking.

“By making use of the required additional height we are able to provide a safe, affordable senior living development that provides for a low density and ample space around the buildings,” the developer states in the application.

The proposed density of 12.75 units per acre, the report stated.

A walking trail around the property perimeter is planned, and the project would leave 59 percent open space.

A public water and sewer system would connect to the Evergreen County Water and Sewer District.

The primary access to the condo development would be a new road along the eastern boundary of the property that would connect with the traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Montana 35. Sager Lane could provide a possible secondary access the could join U.S. 2 at the traffic signal near Super 1 Foods, the planning report said.

The condos would be built in four phases, starting this fall, with completion by the spring of 2023. The first units would be completed by summer 2020.

The Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 11, in the second-floor conference room of the South Campus Building, 40 11th St. W. in Kalispell.

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