Hey, reader. If you thought updates on Kalispell’s new land use plan, required by the Montana Land Use Plan (MLUPA) out of the 2023 Legislature, were over with city councilors’ adoption of the plan last week, it’d be a fair assumption, but you’d be wrong. With the state deadline to adopt MLUPA approaching in May, councilors still have two provisions left to adopt: new mandated zoning and subdivision regulations.

Cities that fall under MLUPA, including Whitefish, Kalispell, and Columbia Falls, are required to adopt at least five out of 14 housing strategies for subdivisions to help meet future housing needs. Kalispell’s Planning Commission adopted eight based on city staff recommendations and public comment staff collected over the past year.

Housing strategies include allowing duplexes and ADUs in all residential zones, encouraging single-family homes shared by multiple tenants, reducing minimum lot sizes by 25%, permitting tiny houses, and incorporating state mandated changes on minimum parking standards.

On Monday evening, councilors reviewed the zoning and subdivision regulations in a work session before the pair of standards go up for a vote and any amendments next week.

Assistant Director of Development Services PJ Sorensen noted that many of the new standards are simply “cut and paste” from state code, replacing language that was also largely a direct copy from state code.

One of the largest changes to the regulations is the process for applications. Preliminary plats will be reviewed and approved administratively by city staff instead of going before planning commission and city council for review. Only final plats will go before council for approval.

The change effectively eliminates the public hearing process, which MLUPA proponents say will help streamline developments that are not controversial.

The Montana Supreme Court recently upheld the housing laws in a lawsuit that argued the MLUPA provisions violated right of participation. The court stated that the public would be able to engage during the development of the plan and have the opportunity to appeal site-specific developments.

“I told this to a number of developers too is what’s really changing is the process,” Sorensen said. “In terms of criteria, it’s the same design criteria, it’s the same what we would be expecting for somebody to submit for an application is the same.”

Notification of planning staff’s initial determination for a preliminary plat will be mailed to all property owners within 150 feet of the proposed site and published in the newspaper. Residents will have 15 business days to provide written public comment on the development.

To bolster opportunity for public comment period during those 15 business days, Councilor Dustin Leftridge proposed creating an online webpage that would host subdivision application materials, staff reports and findings, written public comment, the deadline for public comment, the deadline for any appeals, and a way to subscribe to the page to receive alerts about new subdivision applications.

“The statute gives us broad discretion on where to determine the mechanism of how the public can participate in these 15 days,” Leftridge said. “We do have discretion to do more, and I think it’s our obligation to do so.”

Several councilors and the mayor said they were in favor of the idea, adding that they are concerned about the lack of options for public participation and a potential inundation of public comment when the final plat approval comes before council.

City Manager Jarod Nygren said there were a lot of ways staff could create an online portal, such as adding a page to the city’s website with the option for alerts.

“The more written comment we get on an application, that’s the goal,” Nygren said.

With the zoning and amendments going up before council next Monday, Leftridge said he’d work with city council during the week to determine the best language for an amendment to include the webpage.

I’m Zoë Buhrmaster. Let’s see what else is going on in the Flathead Valley.