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Starbucks Eyes Corner Lot at Kalispell Mall

By Beacon Staff

Starbucks is planning to open a new drive-thru coffee shop in downtown Kalispell.

The company has submitted preliminary site information to the city’s planning department detailing a new 1,900-square-foot building at the southeast corner lot of the Kalispell Center Mall across the street from Depot Park. The company would lease a 28,000-square-foot lot from the mall to make room for the coffee shop and 17 parking spots, according to the submitted request for a building permit. The building would look similar to the other Starbucks location on the north side of town, with brick siding and outdoor seating, according to renderings of the proposed site.

The proposed coffee shop will have to undergo several city reviews, including the Architectural Review Committee, which was scheduled to review the site design and standards. The shop’s address would be designated 10 Main St.

Foundation work would be required at the site, as a former gas station was once situated at the corner and underground tanks would need to be addressed.

A similarly designed new Starbucks is opening in Missoula this spring with a drive-thru window and outdoor patio off Brooks Street.

Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks operates nearly 20,000 stores across the world and about 20 in Montana.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS:

Kalispell
• The city has been approached by the staff of the City/County Health Department with a proposal that dog licensing become a countywide program involving tagging and chipping of dogs so that they might be more readily identified once lost and then returned to their owners. The city council held a workshop addressing the proposal Tuesday after the Beacon went to print. The city and county currently have separate dog licensing programs and each with its own mandates. The county maintains and operates the animal shelter that is used by both agencies. Under the proposal, the city would require residents to license their dog with the county. Not doing so would be a misdemeanor. The city’s animal warden would continue to enforce the licensing requirements as well as other animal codes in the city.

• A public hearing on the proposed changes to the city’s wastewater utility impact fees is scheduled for March 17 at 7 p.m. inside City Hall. The city is considering whether to follow the recommendations of the Impact Fee Advisory Committee and adjust the fees imposed on users creating additional demand on the wastewater facilities. The advisory committee is recommending the city increase the fee from $2,499/ERU to $5,757/ERU.

• City staff are taking another swing at the U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant. The grant application will request funding for infrastructure development of the new industrial rail park being developed by Flathead County Economic Development Authority with matching funding provided. The city lost out on its bid for federal funding last year.

• Three officers received “Lifesaver Awards” at last week’s city council meeting. Don Thibert, Jessica Kinzer and Rob Cherot were recognized for saving the life of a man having a heart attack earlier this year.

• Planning staff is reviewing a request for an 18-acre annexation of land on U.S. Highway 93 North, on the east side of the highway between the Cowboy Church and the Armory. R-2 single family residential zoning is being proposed. The applicant has no immediate plans for development. The planning board will hear this issue at the March 11 planning board meeting. The office also received a final plat application for Bright View Subdivision, a one lot plat that contains the Glacier Eye Clinic site immediately east of Glacier High School.

Whitefish
• A public scoping period is scheduled to beging this week for a proposal to designate a stretch of Whitefish River as non-motorized. The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will accept public comment for 30 days.

• Likely the final public meeting on the most recent downtown master plan update is slated for March 12, at 7 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center. Consultants from Crandall Arambula will provide an update on the refined master plan that’s years in the making. The most recent version of the plan update can be viewed or downloaded on the city’s website at http://www.cityofwhitefish.org/ or http://www.cityofwhitefish.org/other-services/local-events.php. City Manager Chuck Stearns says this will likely be the final public meeting before a public hearing is scheduled in front of the city council later this spring.