As part of the expansion of a building at the Don K car dealership the city planning department would like to see a sidewalk added on the eastern edge of the property, but managers for the business say the sidewalk would actually be a safety concern.

Don Kaltschmidt of Eagle Enterprises is requesting a conditional use permit to expand the footprint of the Don K car dealership on Highway 93 South. As part of that, the city Planning Department is recommending a condition of approval that the business construct a sidewalk along Shiloh Avenue.

The Planning Board recently voted to recommend the CUP while keeping the requirement that the sidewalk is constructed. The request now heads before City Council on Aug. 16.

Greg Shaffer, service manager with Don K, says adding the sidewalk would be a safety concern for pedestrians using it as there are two driveway accesses into the car dealership that would cross the sidewalk.

“With how fast delivery vehicles come in and out of those accesses the sidewalk becomes a safety issue,” he said. “There’s no other sidewalk on that side of the street so this would be a sidewalk to nowhere.”

The planning department notes that while Shiloh Avenue is currently a dead-end street on the backside of commercial uses fronting Highway 93, it is intended to be a major north-south arterial to parallel the highway. Vehicles park on the Don K side of the street and thus the planning staff recommended that a sidewalk be added on that side for pedestrians to use.

Public Works Director Craig Workman said based upon city engineering standards the street is at the point where it has enough use that it needs a sidewalk.

“Based on conditions were observing it requires sidewalks,” he said. “In terms of traffic in and out of the dealership that’s the responsibility of the drivers to be aware of a sidewalk.”

The planning board agreed that the sidewalk was necessary.

“Having the sidewalk there is an imperfect solution, but it’s just something that needs to be done,” Planning Board member Chris Gardner said.

The expansion would connect the Chrysler dealership building to the body shop building to the north, enclosing the existing covered drop-off area beside the building and expand the showroom.

The total square footage for the three additions is 7,800 square feet. The total square footage of the building once all additions are made would be about 52,700 square feet.

This is the third building expansion request in the past two years.

Other items considered by the board:

The board voted to recommend an amendment to the city’s Legacy Homes Program in order to modify the formerly mandatory inclusionary zoning program into a voluntary program.

Gov. Greg Gianforte in April signed House Bill 259 into law prohibiting cities from using inclusionary zoning to require developers to create affordable housing. The city’s Legacy Homes Program was based upon the zoning tool.

Thus, the city is looking to amend its program turning it into a voluntary program that would allow developers to take advantage of certain incentives when they voluntarily set aside 10% of the housing in their project as deed-restricted affordable housing.

"The bill rendered the Legacy Homes Program unenforceable as written, thus the city can no longer require developers to deed-restrict portions of new subdivisions and multifamily projects for long-term affordability, nor can it require land donations or cash-in-lieu fees," city staff wrote in a report to the Planning Board. "Staff is proposing to amend the program into a voluntary one with reduced eligibility requirements to receive the incentives."

The amendment goes before City Council on Aug. 2.