Planning commission advances Vista Ridge Cottages PUD, developer touts modular homes and affordability goals

The Kalispell Planning Commission advanced a developer’s work-session proposal for Vista Ridge Cottages on Jan. 14 and agreed to schedule the project for a public hearing on Feb. 11.

The applicant submitted three files (KA2410, KPUD2405 and KPP2406) seeking annexation and initial RA-1 zoning with a planned unit development (PUD) overlay and preliminary plat approval for about 15.78 acres at 489 2 Mile Drive. The proposal shows 96 residential units: 53 detached single-family units and 43 attached single-family townhome-style units. Staff said the layout would use narrower lots, shared alleys (30-foot alleys serving as primary access in many blocks) and common open spaces, with unit densities of about 6.1 units per acre — below the growth-policy categories that allow up to 12 or 20 units per acre in adjacent designations.

City staff highlighted several technical issues commissioners should consider: roughly 40–50% of the site lies within the current FEMA floodplain; the developer proposes to pursue a CLOMR-F (conditional letter of map revision based on fill) and a floodplain development permit with accompanying geotechnical and compaction documentation; a…