The Kalispell Planning Commission on Tuesday backed a proposal to build condominiums in North Kalispell.  

Local developer Neil Johnson is requesting a conditional use permit to erect two multi-family residential buildings at 95 Village Loop, just off Whitefish Stage Road. 

The commission voted in favor of the proposal after member Cate Walker successfully passed a permit condition urging consideration of installing a crosswalk across Whitefish Stage Road, which would create a pedestrian connection to nearby Edgerton Elementary School.  

“When it comes to children being able to cross the street safely to and from school and cars, I’m going to choose the children crossing the street safely,” Walker said.   

The project is for one 12-unit and one 24-unit building on 2.04 acres zoned RA-2 (residential apartment). The buildings would be parallel to one another with a parking lot in between, according to design plans. 

Nearby business owners expressed concern over the design’s lack of parking, which allocated the minimum allowed 1.5 spaces per unit, or 54 spaces total.  

They also worried the residential development would break with the neighborhood character. Offices dot the vicinity immediately around the proposed residential buildings.  

But the wider area is home to residential neighborhoods, churches and a school. 

Kyle Voigtlander, who made an unsuccessful run for the Ward 3 Kalispell City Council seat in November, disapproved of the proposal, arguing that people move to Kalispell to raise families in single-family homes, not multi-family units.  

“Are we here to have homes built and have families come into town or are we just building units to build units?” he asked the commission.  

Johnson said the purpose of building condos is to provide a cheaper housing option for young families.  

“I live and I work here and my family goes to public school here,” Johnson said. “We anticipate that we will have younger families that will want to use this building as a stepping stone into something else.” 

THE COMMISSION also recommended that Fatt Boys Bar and Grille’s request to expand its gambling area be approved by Council.  

Fatt Boys is asking for a conditional use permit to allow for a 155-square-foot expansion of its casino within the existing building located at 1307 U.S. 2 W. No exterior expansion is proposed.  

Voigtlander criticized a condition imposed by the city requiring the restaurant to install a sidewalk along its frontage.  

“It’s costing small business owners tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars to ... comply with the city,” he said. “The city gains nothing from it other than a 100-foot section of sidewalk.”  

But the addition would bridge a gap in the sidewalk on that stretch of U.S. 2. 

“This is one of the missing pieces that would connect that entire corridor,” said interim City Manager Jarod Nygren. 

Sorensen explained that the point of the condition is to mitigate the anticipated increased traffic brought from the expansion. 

“Usually a business is making an investment like that to increase the amount of traffic that’s coming in,” Sorensen said.  

THE COMMISSION also voted in favor of NorthWestern Energy’s request for a conditional use permit to build a 5,305-square-foot addition to its existing building off North Meridian Road.  

NorthWestern Energy received a permit for the expansion in 2020, but it expired after construction failed to start within the required timeframe, according to a city staff report. 

The addition is intended to house equipment and vehicles.  

All the proposed projects will be considered by Council on Jan. 5.  

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