Kalispell City Council amended its zoning code Monday to outline the city's ability to revoke conditional use permits.  

The newly adopted code explains the process by which Council can revoke, suspend or reconsider a permit if it determines there were misrepresentations made in the property owners’ permit application, whether intentional or not.  

The rule will only apply to permits granted after January 15, 2026, a change made at the behest of city staff ahead of Council’s vote.  

Councilors Ryan Hunter and Jessica Dahlman cast the sole dissenting votes. Hunter argued that the code as written opens the city up to future litigation by allowing Council to penalize permit holders over unintentional errors and predictions made in permit applications.   

He used a hypothetical of a residential development reliant on a conditional use permit. Hunter wondered whether Council, if it found an inaccurate projection in the project’s traffic impact study, could shutter the homes and evict its residents.  

City Attorney Johnna Preble called Hunter’s hypothetical a stretch and said that the traffic studies by their nature are projections. She said the new code is meant to put in place checks and balances, and due process.  

“But the whole [Flathead] Warming Center discussion was around projections about the impact on the neighborhood,” Hunter responded.  

Council’s decision comes after settling a lawsuit filed by the low-barrier overnight shelter over the city’s revocation of its permit. The Warming Center argued that the revocation process was illegal and lacked due process.   

Hunter failed to pass several code amendments intended to prevent unintentional misrepresentations from being used as a means of revoking a permit.  

“If this allows for what happened with the Warming Center, which I thought was an incredible injustice, to happen again, it’s a problem. And we need to make sure that this is written in a way that that can’t happen again,” Hunter said.  

Lawyers representing the Warming Center wrote a letter to the city warning Council that the rule would threaten the property rights of all permit holders in the city.  

Conditional use permits allow property owners to use their land in ways not typically permitted in certain zones. While the current ordinance stipulates that an application can be denied, there has not been language outlining a revocation protocol since 2008.  

The city maintains that it has always been able to revoke permits. Mayor Mark Johnson noted that the rule is defined in state law.  

Interim City Manager Jarod Nygren said that Kalispell would be unique in not having the adopted code. He said that language was pulled from Great Falls’ and Helena’s city codes when writing the amendment. Flathead County and Whitefish also have a version of Kalispell’s code, he said.  

While Whitefish’s code says that conditional use permits run with the property, Kalispell’s amendment states that permits will no longer be attached to the property indefinitely. The permit must be renewed when someone else takes ownership of the property.  

However, Nygren said that the prospective property owners can get confirmation from the city that the permit will be renewed before buying the property. 

If the city deems that a permit violates its conditions or application, it must notify the permit holder. Councilor Sid Daoud successfully passed a motion to extend the deadline for compliance from 15 to 30 business days. After that, a hearing date would be set for Council to present its findings of fact.  

City officials say the amendment is meant to plug holes in the revocation process exposed during its dispute with the Warming Center.  

Erica Wirtala spoke on behalf of the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors in support of the rule. She said that realtors want a laid-out process that they can count on when selling a property.  

She used an example of a realtor trying to sell property near a kennel relying on a permit to operate. The revocation process will ensure that the kennel can’t turn into a disruptive “all-night howl-a-thon,” which will provide a level of certainty to the client.  

COUNCIL ALSO approved a subdivision of townhomes wedged between Ashley Creek and Bluestone Drive despite opposition from neighbors.  

Developer Roger Foley’s preliminary plat request was approved. He plans to build 44 townhouse/attached single-family lots on 12 acres.  

Foley's first proposal to build a 99-unit apartment complex on the land was shot down by Council in September.  

The latest proposal was met by opposition from Hunter and community members, who argued that the development impeded too much on Ashley Creek and would affect wildlife in the area.  

City staff allowed the developer to impede the generally allowed setback area of 200 feet, in some areas reducing the setback to 100 feet of the creek.  

Council also approved a preliminary plat and conditional use permit to build a 149-unit residential neighborhood just south of the LHC gravel pit north of the intersection of Stillwater Road and Taeler Road.  

LBO Properties LLP is planning to build 111 single-family detached lots and use a conditional use permit to build 38 townhome units on roughly 43 acres for the project called the North West View Subdivision.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].