When Flathead County High School was built on Fourth Avenue West in 1903, its three-story brick presence sat rather solitary among newly planted trees, rubble streets and the budding community. The Model T Ford, the catalyst of mainstream American automobiles, was still eight years from production.
Fast forward 111 years, and the original high school has expanded to accommodate more than 1,500 students. Another school — Elrod Elementary with its roughly 300 students — has emerged two blocks away. And the surrounding neighborhoods are all lined with single-family homes in the heart of Kalispell.
Also, seemingly everyone owns a car.
Hoping to address long-standing concerns over parking, littering and other issues related to bustling neighborhood schools, city planners and residents have turned their attention to the three-block radius surrounding Flathead High.
After holding community meetings and surveying area residents in the last year and a half, city officials and a citizen subcommittee have drafted a possible solution: the formation of a parking district.
A residential parking district is a tool commonly used by communities seeking to address impacts of large parking generators, such as schools and hospitals. Kalispell’s designated district would range from 10th Street West to Third Street West and Seventh Avenue West to First Avenue West. Within that boundary, on-street parking would require a permit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, when school is in session from late August through early June. Permits would be issued to property owners and residents with proof of ownership or residence, and the permits would cost between $10 and $20 annually to cover the cost of administering the program, according to the City of Kalispell. The city’s police department would enforce the permits, and violators would be fined $20. Certain vehicles would be exempt, such as contractors working at residences, buses and ambulances.
The citizen subcommittee, made up of area residents within the district, reached a consensus on the details of the district, according to the city’s planning department.
The city’s planning board will discuss the proposal at a work session at 6 p.m., July 8. After the work session, the board will schedule a public hearing accepting input before forwarding the matter to the city council for a final decision.
Residents approached the city nearly two years ago raising concerns about parking and littering in the neighborhoods surrounding Flathead High, and the subcommittee was formed to work with the planning department. Surveys were mailed to the 279 residents within the potential new district, and 68 were returned. Residents were asked to list their top 10 concerns in the neighborhood — 67 percent cited trash, 42 percent identified parking, 32 percent said smoking/tobacco use, 29 percent said speeding or unsafe driving and 25 percent said vandalism/theft.
While other issues are yet to be addressed, and discussions are ongoing with the school district, the issue of parking is the first to be solved.
Last year the high school had a demand for 598 parking spaces, and the school district had space on-site for 371, leaving 227 spaces in need. The three-block radius surrounding Flathead has 877 total spaces available, according to the planning department.
Kevin LeClair, senior advisor with the planning department, said volunteers went door-to-door to more than 200 homes asking residents if they would support the creation of a residential parking district, and 88 percent of respondents were in favor. Five residents, or 3 percent of the respondents, were opposed.
For more information on the proposed parking district, visit the planning department’s website at www.kalispell.com.