The owner of an RV dealership along U.S. 93 in Montana has proposed to rezone about 14 acres of neighboring land to allow for light industrial use – a proposal that has drawn opposition from the city of Kalispell.
The request will be the focus of a public hearing Dec. 9 before the Flathead County Planning Board.
Donovan Bergeson’s dealership is across the highway from the county landfill, between Kalispell and Whitefish. In their application, Bergeson and Sands Surveying Inc. have proposed rezoning an adjacent piece of undeveloped land for light industrial use. The 14-acre property, which abuts the highway and straddles Scenic Ridge Road, is currently zoned for suburban agriculture with 10-acre minimum lot sizes.
Bergeson said Friday he hopes to add fencing and storage units to the property to store RVs; he said he has no immediate plans to host new businesses on the land, though the proposed rezoning would allow for it. He said the land’s proximity to the landfill makes it a good fit for industrial commercial use.
“The property on the west side of the highway is zoned for commercial and industrial uses,” Bergeson’s application stated, adding that the land for his dealership already has been rezoned for light industrial use. “The highway frontage in the vicinity of the landfill is better suited to light industrial use than residential use. The topography of the subject properties also creates a distinction between what would be light industrial use and the suburban agricultural use.”
Kalispell’s Planning Department submitted comments to the board opposing the proposal.
Click here to read the full story from Chad Sokol at the Kalispell Daily Inter Lake.
