The Kalispell City Council is readying its priorities for the upcoming session of the Montana Legislature, and a local option tax is one of the city’s priorities.

The council typically reviews its legislative platform, which establishes a general set of priorities for the council regarding state legislation, and that discussion took place Monday during a virtual work session.

The council’s existing list of priorities includes support for: a local option sales tax; maintaining tax increment financing as an economic development tool; streamlining special district legislation; legislation that mitigates the economic impact for increasing regulatory standards for municipalities; legislation that addresses infrastructure needs associated with rapid growth; and legislation that provides options to enhance or improve service delivery for the city of Kalispell.

The work session was an opportunity for the council to discuss the addition or elimination of any legislative issues.

New legislative proposals included: affordable housing; bringing back the logging industry to Northwest Montana; localizing forest management; sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure; reduced impact fees for infill development; using building permit revenue for initiatives other than the Building Department; utility rate discounts for low-income customers; and adjusting the general requirement that new zoning needs to match nearby existing zoning, since land uses change over time.

IN OTHER discussion, the council talked about current policies for accessory dwelling units in the city’s various zones. Currently, some form of separate, secondary dwelling unit is allowed in all of the city zones except for the R-2 and R-3 residential zones.

The goal of the work session was to determine whether the council would support continuing discussions about accessory dwelling units in order to consider expanding the availability of these units in the city.

Council member Ryan Hunter requested the work session on accessory units because they increase housing availability and provide income to the homeowners that develop them.

The discussion touched on conditional-use permit requirements, which are currently in place for adding accessory dwelling units in city zones: RA-1, RA-2, H-1, B-1, B-2, B-3 and B-4. The council and city staff also went over other requirements, such as off-street parking and setbacks, as well as the possibility that these structures could end up as rental properties, rather than long-term housing options.

Council member Tim Kluenser proposed creating a survey of all the accessory units that are already in place throughout Kalispell, but City Manager Doug Russell explained such an inventory would likely be difficult to collect accurately.

In general, the council was supportive of continuing discussions on accessory units, although comments about their impacts on the community were mixed.

Hunter said he would like to see accessory dwellings available in all of the city’s residential and commercial zones, with fewer requirements for components like parking and setbacks.

Council member Chad Graham, on the other hand, had more concerns about adding units.

“I want to protect the fabric of the neighborhoods and the density,” Graham said. “I don’t want to move the goalposts on people that are living in a community by increasing the density by slamming these ADUs in there.”

The only public comment during the work session came from Jamie Quinn, a Kalispell resident who lives in an accessory unit and works as the executive director of Flathead Food Bank. Quinn urged the council to consider the importance of accessory dwellings as an affordable housing option and to be more accepting of the residents of these dwellings.

“It concerns me that there’s this concept that people that live in housing that’s affordable are just a blight to society,” she said. “I’m truly disheartened by your comments tonight and I would urge the council to…get out and know your neighbor.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.