The Kalispell Planning Board is recommending that the city council update the West Side Urban Renewal Plan to include possible improvements at the Flathead County Fairgrounds and the removal of railroad tracks running through town.
At City Hall last week, the planning board voted unanimously to pass a motion for the city council to consider containing a list of goals and an expansion of the redevelopment plan. On Oct. 3, the city council agreed to a public hearing on the issue for Monday, Oct. 17.
“The indecisiveness is the problem. It’s stifling,” planning board member Phil Guiffrida said before the vote.
“We need to set clear goals,” he added.
A staff report presented by senior planner Sean Conrad outlined the amount of blight in a slice of town “full of opportunities” along Idaho and Center streets and Seventh Avenue and North Meridian Road.
The most notable recommended addition to the current redevelopment plan, which was implemented in the mid-1990s, is the fairgrounds. Once on the edge of town, the fairgrounds is now a centerpiece of the city with visible improvement needs and could be transformed into a year-round event center, Conrad said.
“When you walk along there it gives an outward appearance that it wants to exclude the public,” Conrad said. “It doesn’t invite development.”
Fairgrounds manager Mark Campbell agreed and said the aging buildings and infrastructure “need a big hug” from the community.
“What our long-term plans are is to become a better and solid neighbor with facilities that provide better public access and provide a better business environment,” he said.
Campbell said a walking trail on the fairgrounds property is one goal he had in mind.
Planning board member John Hinchey also would like to see upgrades, saying possible landscaping improvements is one place to start.
“The fairgrounds is a key part of that western entrance into the city,” he said. “I just think that including it in this plan just gives the city another tool to work with the county (on redevelopment).”
Another focus for planning board members was the removal of railroad tracks, which would directly affect two businesses that use them, Cenex Harvest States and Northwest Drywall.
After conducting more than 80 interviews with surrounding business owners and residents, Conrad said one overriding opinion is that the tracks have deterred commercial and residential development.
The “presence of railroad tracks makes it seem like heavy industrial. That’s not true,” Conrad said.
Cenex general manager Mark Lalum said the company would deal with whatever decision is made regarding the tracks. But without knowing what the future holds, he said investment and development has stalled for the grain shipping business.
“The city needs to make a decision,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of the grain in this valley comes from that elevator. It’s a vital link to this community. But I think you need to decide what’s going to happen (with the railroad tracks).”
The planning report’s other amended goals read:
• Increase the number of north/south through streets
• Improve pedestrian and bike access
• Implement a program to replace water and sewer lines over 50 years old
• Improve water pressure and fire flow in water main lines
• Work with property owners to remove deteriorated and unsafe buildings
• Encourage the redevelopment of properties within the area
• Develop and fund a loan/grant program that offers incentives to improve/upgrade commercial and residential properties
• Maintain a viable Brownfields program
After the urban renewal motion passed, planning board member Blake Sherman brought up an ordinance that limits bars in Kalispell from being located within 300 feet of each other. Sherman proposed possibly changing it to improve downtown nightlife.
“This is about Kalispell trying to get a better entertainment district, a better downtown. Whitefish and Missoula don’t have that (ordinance),” Sherman said.
The planning staff and board agreed to look into it for a future discussion.
UPDATE: On Oct. 3, the city council agreed to a public hearing on the issue for Monday, Oct. 17.