Planning Department 201 1 Avenue East Kalispell, MT 59901

Planning Department
201 1st Avenue East
Kalispell, MT 59901
Phone: (406) 758-7940
Fax: (406) 758-7739
www.kalispell.com/planning
REPORT TO:
Doug Russell, City Manager
FROM:
Kevin LeClair, Senior Planner, Kalispell Planning Department
SUBJECT:
Zoning Map Change from RA-1 to RA-2 and from R-3 to R-5
MEETING DATE:
February 3, 2014
BACKGROUND: The request from Mark Owens, with Owl Corporation, is to change the
zoning from RA-1 (residential apartment) to RA-2 (residential apartment/office) and from R-3
(residential) to R-5 (residential/professional office) on 17.7 acres located at the northeast corner
of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road in southern portion of the West View Estates
Subdivision. The area can be described as Assessor’s Tract 5+ and Lots 1-5 of West View
Estates, Phase 1, in the southwest ¼ of the southwest ¼ of Section 25, Township 29 North,
Range 22 West, P.M.M., Flathead County, Montana.
The area, known as West View Estates, is located north of West Reserve Drive, between
Stillwater Road and the Stillwater Estates Subdivision. It was annexed into Kalispell and
received its initial annexation zoning of RA-1 and R-3 in 2003. The area zoned R-3 has
undergone three successive phases of residential subdivision, with two occurring in 2006 and one
in 2009. To date, West View Estates contains 81 residential lots, a two-acre public park, and a
public road system. There are 21 single-family residential homes in the neighborhood and two
under construction. The area of the requested zone change is located in the southern 570 feet of
West View Estates and includes a portion of an un-platted tract and Lots 1-5 of the subdivision’s
first phase.
The area under consideration was the subject of a previous zone change request from Mark
Owens in September 2013. The request at that time was to change the zoning on both the RA-1
and R-3 zoned areas to RA-2. On October 8, 2013, the Kalispell City Planning Board held a
public hearing to consider the request and to receive input from the community. At the public
hearing, Planning Department staff delivered a presentation on the proposed zone change. The
presentation described the neighborhood context and highlighted the Kalispell Growth Policy,
which identifies the area as “High Density Residential”, which is consistent with the proposed
RA-2 (residential apartment/office) zoning. The RA-2 zoning district permits a full range of
residential uses, and limited number of business and service uses. A staff report was also
provided and entered into the record.
Following the staff presentation, thirteen residents from West View Estates and Stillwater
Estates spoke in opposition of the proposed zone change. They stated several reasons for their
opposition. The first centered on property values and the disruption of the existing neighborhood
character if office or multi-family uses were allowed to develop at or near the entrance to their
neighborhoods. The second concern was traffic impacts to area roadways, primarily West
Reserve Drive, which experiences heavy volumes at certain times of day associated with Glacier
High School and other commuters. The residents also expressed concern for the safety of
pedestrians and bicyclists if traffic were to increase in and around the neighborhood. Finally,
several residents noted the current school over-crowding issue facing the West Valley School
District, which serves the West View Estates Subdivision. The property owner’s consultant, a
planner from Sands Surveying, spoke on behalf of the request.
At the October 8, 2013, public hearing, the Planning Board adopted staff report KZC-13-02 as
findings of fact and recommended that the Kalispell City Council change the zoning from RA-1
(residential apartment) to RA-2 (residential apartment/office) and maintain the R-3 (residential)
zoning for the remaining portion of the zone change request. This recommendation differed
from the applicant’s request as well as the staff recommendation. The motion was unanimously
approved by the Board.
The matter was scheduled to be heard by the City Council at their meeting on November 4, 2013.
The applicant, after receiving and considering additional feedback from the neighborhood, asked
that the item be pulled from the Council’s agenda and returned to the Planning Board for further
discussion and consideration.
A Planning Board work session was held on November 12, 2013, to discuss the potential of
changing the zoning on the R-3 portion of the property to R-5, as an alternative to the original
request of RA-2 for this area, or the Board’s recommendation of maintaining the R-3 zoning
designation. The owner and his consultant presented several visual representations of what
professional offices could look like on the west side of Taelor Road, as well as landscape
buffering along the northern edge of the area currently zoned RA-1.
After some discussion about visual impacts, property values, traffic impacts and flow, the
Planning Board indicated to the applicant that they felt a public hearing would be warranted so
they could consider an alternate proposal that would include changing the area zoned RA-1 to
RA-2, and the area zoned R-3 on both the east and west sides of Taelor Road to R-5.
Following the work session, Mark Owens submitted a revised request to the Planning
Department that included changing the zoning from RA-1 to RA-2 and from R-3 to R-5.
On December 10, 2013, the Kalispell Planning Board held a public hearing to consider Mark
Owens’ revised request to change the RA-1 zoned land to RA-2 and change the R-3 zoned land
on both sides of Taelor Road to R-5. The adjacent landowners and the members of the public
who had testified regarding the original request were notified of the revised request and the
public hearing.
At the public hearing, Planning Department staff made a presentation to the Planning Board.
The staff presentation was followed by testimony from the property owner’s consultant and three
neighbors to the requested change. The neighbors were opposed to the request and cited similar
reasons as before.
The Planning Board made a motion to adopt the revised Staff Report KZC-13-02 as findings of
fact and recommend to the Kalispell City Council that the area zoned RA-1 (residential
apartment) be rezoned to RA-2 (residential apartment/office) and the area zoned R-3 (residential
on either side of Taelor Road, including Lots 1-5 of West View Estates be rezoned to R-5
(residential/professional office). The Board made a second motion, amending the first, which
removed the wording, “and the area zoned R-3 (residential on either side of Taelor Road,
including Lots 1-5 of West View Estates be rezoned to R-5 (residential/professional office).”
Following some discussion, the board voted 4 in favor and 1 opposed to the adoption to amend
the original motion. The Board then voted unanimously in favor of adopting the amended
motion to change the zoning for the area zoned RA-1 to RA-2 and leave the area zoned R-3
unchanged.
RECOMMENDATION: A motion to approve a zone change for the 10-acre area zoned RA-1
located northeast of intersection of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road from RA-1
(residential apartment) to RA-2 (residential apartment/office) as recommended by the Planning
Board.
FISCAL EFFECTS:
Approval of the request would have minimal fiscal effect to the City.
ALTERNATIVES:
Deny the request.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin LeClair
Senior Planner
Report compiled: January 28, 2014
Attachments: Revised Staff Report KZC-13-02
Application Materials
Planning Board Minutes of October 8, 2013
Draft Planning Board Minutes of December 10, 2013
c: w/att:
c: w/o att:
Theresa White, Kalispell City Clerk
Mark Owens, Owl Corporation, 500 Palmer Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901
Sands Surveying, Attn: Eric Mulcahy, 2 Village Loop, Kalispell, MT 59901

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