Residents on Monday night can share their thoughts with Kalispell City Council on the draft land use plan meant to guide development for the next 20 years.  

Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m., March 16 in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E. 

City staff, working alongside a hired planning firm, have spent the past year hosting open houses and meeting with community stakeholders to encourage public involvement in the new land use plan. The document places a strong focus on housing, as required by the Montana Land Use Planning Act passed by the state Legislature in 2023.  

The Kalispell Planning Commission spent over a dozen work sessions trudging through the document’s nine chapters before forwarding it to Council for consideration in January. Councilors have since completed their review and will vote whether to adopt the plan in April.  

In the past weeks, Councilors weighed designating a large area west of the city as environmentally sensitive due to migrating sandhill cranes and considered eliminating minimum parking requirements. A slim majority of councilors also tentatively agreed to allow fourplexes in all residential zones, despite staff warnings that the change would not be received well by the public.   

The two remaining components of the 2023 state law are also winding through City Hall. New subdivision regulations — intended to overhaul how the public can comment on proposed subdivisions — and updated zoning rules designed to encourage higher-density housing will also be considered by Council at future meetings.  

COUNCILORS WILL consider adopting a plan to fast-track the project to replace city well sites contaminated with what are colloquially known as forever chemicals.  

The plan would reduce downtime and limit impacts on the municipality’s water system by allowing the city to hire a contractor earlier than usual. The move is expected to shorten the construction timeline. 

Historically, when the city undertakes projects, it uses a linear method of hiring an engineer for construction design, going out to bid for a contractor and then selecting the lowest bidder. While the method can usually bring about the lowest costs, it can also lengthen the project timeline. 

Councilor adopted a similar plan to hasten upgrades to the municipality’s wastewater treatment plant to meet a fast-approaching deadline.  

The city plans to drill two well sites to replace the Grandview Wells and Armory Well, which have consistently detected levels of per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, since they were tested in 2022.  

COUNCIL WILL also consider approving the final plat for a subdivision on the west side of town.  

JCM Development, LLC, submitted the request to approve the Autumn Creek Subdivision that will consist of 28 lots on 8.5-acres along Hathaway Lane, north of U.S. 2 West. 

Council approved the neighborhood’s preliminary plat in 2021, and all 34 conditions have since been met or adequately addressed, according to a memo from city planner Donnie McBath.  

A homeowners association will be created to manage the common areas, as required by one of the conditions imposed by city staff.   

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