The Kalispell Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to recommend to City Council annexation of property that could host a new county jail.  

The commission held a public hearing before the vote. Whitney Aschenwald, Flathead County’s project manager, provided the only comment at the Oct. 14 hearing, offering to answer any questions commissioners had on the potentially forthcoming Flathead County Public Safety Facility.  

“It’s a pretty straight forward, simple annexation,” said commission President Chad Graham before ayes resounded across the dais in City Hall.  

Commissioner Cate Walker, a landscape architect, recused herself from the vote because of her office’s involvement in the project.  

Voters in November will decide on a $105 million bond to pay for the facility that, in addition to a new jail, would house the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, a courtroom and the county Office of Emergency Services.  

Flathead County submitted a request for annexation and zoning of P-1 (public) of 33.5 acres of property at 225 Snowline Lane. Annexing the vacant county land would allow the proposed detention facility to tap into the city’s water, sewer and fire protection services. 

County officials say the existing jail on South Main Street — built in 1986 — is overcrowded and outdated. The new facility would double the county’s jail capacity.  

Kalispell’s growth policy designates the property for primarily suburban residential use, but P-1 zoning is consistent with the policy’s intent to reserve land for public safety infrastructure.  

THE COMMISSION also reviewed two chapters in the city’s new growth policy being curated in accordance with the Montana Land Use Planning Act passed by the state Legislature in 2023.  

The public is invited to weigh in during the series of monthly city meetings where city staff are forming the Kalispell’s guiding document to manage growth. The law frontloads community input to create the plan and ditches public hearings in front of Council.  

Folks can also provide their opinions online at https://publicinput.com/m60416. 

The new plan must be adopted by May 2026.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].