Kalispell planning commission recommends 2‑foot eave encroachment into residential setbacks

The Kalispell City Planning Commission voted 4‑0 on Sept. 9 to recommend that the Kalispell City Council adopt a zoning text amendment allowing eaves to extend up to 2 feet into required setbacks in R‑1 through R‑5 residential zones. The commission approved staff report KZTA‑25‑01 as findings of fact and forwarded the proposal to the council for first reading on Oct. 6.

Staff described the proposal as a limited technical change to the municipal setback definition so that required setbacks could be measured to the vertical exterior wall rather than to the outermost projection such as eaves, and said the change would be implemented by adding a new supplemental section and footnotes referencing that section throughout the zoning code. Planning staff told the commission the amendment is intended to preserve a simple setbacks rule while allowing a two‑foot eave…