Kalispell city staffers are continuing to plot their way through state regulations imposed by the Montana Land Use Plan Act (MLUPA), 2023 legislation mandating updates to how some cities manage land development. The legislation is divided into three pieces – the overarching land use plan, zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations. Having recommended the first two pieces to city council for approval, the city’s planning commission reviewed the third and final piece during Tuesday’s meeting.
“It’s probably the most controversial aspect of everything here,” PJ Sorensen, assistant director of development services, said. “There’s a lot of changes in terms of procedure primarily.”
The procedural change removes the requirement for a public hearing during individual subdivision applications. The 2025 Legislature added a provision for public notice with a written public comment period, Sorensen said, though the requirement is subject to change based on a lawsuit currently pending before Montana Supreme Court that challenges the procedural change.
Review criteria and required application materials will stay the same, Sorensen said, and still includes public notices to property owners within 150 feet of a proposed subdivision and a public notice. Residents would have 15 business days to submit written comment by email, dropping it off at the clerk’s office, or by mail.
“I just see a big hole in that,” Planning Board President Chad Graham said. “Not everybody’s reading the paper, and they’re not looking for post-its from the city on land use.”
Built into the change is the ability for neighbors or the developer to appeal a decision to the planning commission, and up to city council or Flathead County District Court.
“Any decision we make can be appealed up,” Sorensen said.
Most of changes in the updated subdivision regulations are “copy and paste” from Montana Code and bring the city into line with state policy, Sorensen said.
The planning board members voted to recommend the required changes to city council, save for Graham. The subdivision requirements are scheduled to go before council on April 20.
A public hearing on the entire land use plan is scheduled for March 16 at 7 p.m. in City Hall.