On Monday, Kalispell City Council wraps up its review of a new land use plan designed to guide development decisions for the next 20 years.  

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. March 9 at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.

Councilors have toiled through all nine chapters over several meetings since the Planning Commission forwarded the plan to them in January. The document is required under a 2023 state law intended to streamline housing construction.  

City staff are expected to review proposed edits to the document made by Council in the preceding weeks. Although the changes were few, councilors weighed designating a large area west of the city as environmentally sensitive due to migrating sandhill cranes and considered eliminating minimum parking requirements for commercial developments. 

A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for March 16.   

The Montana Land Use Planning Act also requires cities to update their zoning regulations to include at least five of 14 housing strategies proposed by the state Legislature.  

The Planning Commission last month recommended eight strategies to Council, which included allowing duplexes, townhomes and accessory dwelling units in all residential zones, permitting multifamily dwellings in commercial and office zones, reducing minimum lot sizes by 25% and reducing off-street parking requirements.  

Councilors are expected to vote on the proposed zoning reforms at an upcoming meeting before the May deadline. 

COUNCIL WILL also discuss a proposed update to county septic regulations that would allow gravity systems in the county, stripping the requirement that all septic systems must use pressurized distribution.   

The Flathead City-County Board of Health recommended the update to the Flathead County commissioners, who will hold a public hearing on March 17.  

Critics worry that without proper oversight, gravity systems could harm the county’s high groundwater and abundant surface water. But Kalispell’s representative on the board, Rod Kuntz, defended his support for the changes in a letter submitted to Council last week, saying his vote was based on scientific evidence and standards set by the state Department of Environmental Quality.  

“To be clear, the board’s decision was not about weakening environmental protection. It was about applying our regulations based on science and the available data,” read Kuntz’s letter to Council.  

Gravity septic systems use natural gravity to move wastewater from a home to a drain field, whereas pressure systems require pumps to more evenly distribute effluent. Gravity systems can benefit homes in remote areas without access to the electricity needed to run pumps.  

Kuntz said the systems are the most common onsite system nationally and perform adequately when installed within regulatory limits.  

“Additionally, gravity systems are simpler, less costly, and have fewer mechanical failure points. Reliability matters for long-term environmental protection, and housing affordability matters to all county residents — current and future,” he wrote.  

City Manager Jarod Nygren last week said he invited Kuntz to Monday’s meeting to explain why he supports the update.  

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