The Kalispell Planning Commission on Tuesday backed a slew of reforms to the city’s zoning rules to promote higher density development.  

The proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance are designed to align with land use legislation passed by the state Legislature in 2023 and 2025, including the Montana Land Use Planning Act. The law required 10 cities — among them Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls — to draft a new land use plan to guide the city’s growth for the next 20 years. It also mandates updated zoning and subdivision regulations aimed at increasing housing supply.   

The commission recommended the amendments — ranging from loosening zoning restrictions to overhauling the public complaint process — to City Council, which will consider the changes at a future meeting.  

One revision allows duplexes, townhomes and accessory dwelling units in all residential zones. Accessory dwelling units and duplexes currently are restricted in lower density zones.  

The move is one of 14 zoning regulations Kalispell could adopt under the Montana Land Use Planning Act. The city must adopt at least five. 

In other proposed changes, multifamily dwellings would go from conditional to permitted uses in commercial and office zones. Lot sizes were recommended to be reduced by 25% across all zones.  

The commission also supported loosening parking requirements to align with a state law passed last year.  

If adopted by Council, the city could only require one parking space for each single family, accessory dwelling, duplex or multifamily unit over 1,200 square feet. The city could not require any parking for units under 1,200 square feet. Child care facilities and deed-restricted housing projects would also be absolved of incorporating parking.  

Currently, all residences besides multifamily are required to include two spaces per unit. 

House Bill 492 also prohibits localities from requiring additional parking at an existing building that undergoes a change of use. Currently, a building seeing a change of use must comply with any new parking requirements imposed by the city.  

The commission also supported eliminating the process for neighbors to oppose a zone change, aligning with House Bill 713, which passed last year. The new law nixes the ability of nearby property owners to force a higher City Council voting threshold by collecting a certain percentage of signatures against the proposed zone change.  

The Montana Land Use Planning Act is eliminating public hearings on site-specific developments but lets neighbors or developers appeal land use decisions. City officials are still ironing out how best to alert residents of impending nearby construction under the new system. 

The provision of the law repealing the public review process remains under review by the state Supreme Court, according to Assistant Development Services Director PJ Sorensen.  

“As it currently stands, there would be a public notice and public comment period tied to these but no public hearings,” Sorensen said.  

“Seems like there’s a lot in there that’s changing, but we’ve been talking about it for a long time,” said commission member Rory Young.  

City staff — with the guidance of the Planning Commission and public input — have been crafting the land use plan for over a year. The plan draws majorly from the city’s growth policy adopted in 2017. City Council is in the process of reviewing the plan before it must be adopted by May. 

THE COMMISSION also OK’d a preliminary plat for two development phases at the Bloomstone neighborhood off Four Mile Drive.  

Kalispell National Multifamily, LLC, is looking to re-subdivide 12 acres of its property into three lots for multifamily units. The property was originally platted as a single lot, and the redrawing is primarily for financing purposes, according to a city staff report.  

Wedged between the U.S. 93 Bypass and Treeline Road, the land is intended to house 288 apartments. The property is a portion of the already approved Bloomstone planned unit development. 

THE STARLING subdivision’s preliminary plat request for 54 residential lots over two phases also earned the commission’s backing.  

The fifth and sixth phases of the development consist of six detached single-family and 18 attached townhome lots on around 12.5 acres. The property is located just west of Stillwater Road, between Four Mile Drive and Old Reserve Drive.  

Council approved the entire planned unit development for the Starling neighborhood in 2022. The neighborhood has since been developed incrementally through a series of previously approved preliminary and final subdivision phases, according to a city staff report. 

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