After a lengthy discussion about lighting and safety, the Columbia Falls City Council last week approved a 40-unit apartment complex near the intersection of Meadow Lake Boulevard and Best Way Drive.

Council added two stipulations to the conditional use permit for the apartments: a requirement for bear proof garbage facilities and a requirement that a light be installed to illuminate the aforementioned intersection in the event that the section of Meadow Lake Boulevard becomes a city street, which could happen sooner rather than later.

Mayor Don Barnhart was a strong advocate for the light, noting it was a safety concern.

“At some point, we have to get that lit,” he said.

The problem right now is jurisdiction. Meadow Lake Drive is a county road and the city couldn’t impose a condition on the developer to put a light on county right of way.

But no one expects that section of the street to stay in county hands in the long term. A hotel is going in at the intersection of Meadow Lake Drive and U.S. 2 and a light industrial park north of that. All of those projects are in the city limits and they’re contiguous.

It’s a matter of time before the county hands over the road to the city, municipal officials surmised.

The apartments are being built by Norton Luxury Homes of Bigfork. They plan to build two two-story multi-family buildings with a total of 40 units, 10 on each floor. There will be 36 two-bedroom units and four one-bedroom units. 

The buildings will be just under 35 feet tall.

The buildings will have exterior entrances to each unit, with stairs to the second-floor units. A total of 82 parking spaces will be provided. Each unit will have two parking spaces. There are four ADA parking spaces provided on site, along with two loading areas provided in the parking area, the application to the city stated.

The plan was previously approved by the city’s Planning Commission. Speaking for the developer, architect Patrick Conover said the goal is to make the apartments affordable.

“It will be more affordable than a lot of other places,” he told Council. 

He said the company would like to build more apartments in the city if land is available.

Construction could start as early as June 1. Apartments were previously approved on the 2.25 acre lot, but never built and the property was sold.

The Planning Commission previously put a key condition on the apartments that they could not be used as short-term rentals.

Another condition will require a sidewalk along the development, which will tie into sidewalks that the hotel developers and the industrial park are required to build as well.