Kalispell Council Postpones Decision on Flathead Warming Center Permit

The Kalispell City Council on Tuesday night unanimously voted to postpone a decision that could potentially close the Flathead Warming Center, a move the city officials said would allow nonprofit leaders and residents who have complained about its impacts a chance to collaborate on a solution.  

Following months of conversations surrounding accusations from the city council that the warming center is not adhering to its conditional use permit, the nonprofit has been granted 60 more days to come up with measures to mitigate the impacts of its presence, as well as that of its clients. The issue will return to council for a decision in September.

The council’s vote comes after hearing hours of public comment on Tuesday night during a special meeting from residents who both supported and opposed the warming center, along with testimony from Flathead Warming Center Executive Director Tonya Horn and the board of directors.

On Monday night, nonprofit leaders defended the shelter’s record against allegations that its presence has increased the homeless population in the area on North Meridian Road. The organization is also accused of not being a “good neighbor” as residents raise concerns about the behaviors of clients, including loitering, littering, public defecation, a lack of transportation in and out of the neighborhood, trespassing, and other types of criminal activity.

Councilors have accused the low-barrier homeless shelter’s leaders of not following the criteria outlined in the conditional use permit, which the council unanimously approved in 2020. The permit allows the 50-bed warming center to operate on North Meridian Road in neighborhood business zone B-1, which is not zoned for a homeless shelter.

“When I listened to the testimony and look at the issue in the conditional use permit, it is a land-use decision – it is quasi-judicial,” Mayor Mark Johnson said. “When I look at the issues presented to us, there are issues with the conditional permit application.”

Johnson suggested that warming center officials work with neighbors to help mitigate the impacts and improve communication in the next 60 days while informally nominating former Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau to mediate between the two groups.

“If we can find a way to bridge the gaps, break down these barriers – find a way to maintain this facility and have it operate as a good neighbor and reestablish those communication lines –  I think we owe it to the warming center,” Johnson said. “I think we owe it to the community to give ourselves 60 days to see if we can come up with an option. And if we can’t at that point in time, we have a tough decision.”

The council agreed that the warming center deserved an opportunity to rectify the situation over the next two months, but Councilor Ryan Hunter cast doubt and said the two groups alone lacked resources to come up with solutions.

“If we send the warming center in with the neighbors, I think it’s going to fail,” Hunter said. “I’ll be honest, I don’t foresee an outcome that is going to work because the problem is there’s a lot of reliance on the warming center to solve all the problems and they can’t.

For example, Hunter suggested that the city could do things like add more bathrooms to prevent public defecation.

City Manager Doug Russell, however, warned that the city’s involvement could create pushback. He reminded the council to stay focused on the specific issue of the conditional use permit.

Councilor Chad Graham, who spearheaded the potential revocation of the conditional use permit back in April, said he stood by his initial opinion that the Flathead Warming Center is not adhering to the permit; however, he said he’d like to see solutions, which he hoped could come together in the next 60 days.

“I support the warming center and what they do, but the view is much different from this side of the dais,” Graham said. “As elected officials, we must respond to our constituents and that’s what we’re doing – that’s what this whole process is.”

Graham said that while he supported the concept of the warming center, he remained convinced the social service was not in compliance with the conditional use permit. He also felt that warming center officials were not taking responsibility for its impacts.

Prior to the vote to postpone the decision, dozens of divided residents including former Kalispell mayors, business owners, neighbors of the warming center and social workers provided emotional testimony during public comment for nearly three hours.

Many residents and business owners expressed their concern for their neighborhood, telling the council stories of trespassing, public sex and widespread fear.

“I’ve had our customers fear for their safety due to verbal and physical confrontations taking place on the sidewalk in front of my shop. I’ve had to keep my front door locked at times because of customers fearing for the safety of their children should any of these vagrants produce a weapon and attack someone,” a business owner said.

Pam Carbonari, who served two terms as a Kalispell city councilor in the 1990s followed by eight years as the mayor before departing in 2009, recalled the many years the municipality has faced issues of homelessness and urged the council to not revoke the conditional use permit.  

“Elimination of the Flathead Warming Center is not going to help the unsheltered issues,” Carbonari said. “Facing an attempt to eliminate the CUP (conditional use permit), which was authorized in 2020 and again in 2022, is not a solution … this will do nothing but cost our city an enormous amount of legal funds and continue to create a negative and hostile environment in our community. Instead, let’s work together to discuss the issues at hand and add more puzzle pieces to create a community that we can be proud to be a part of. The Flathead Warming Center is offering a piece of that puzzle. What can the City of Kalispell bring?”

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