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Kalispell rezones core area for future growth By SEABORN LARSON Daily Inter Lake I Posted: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:00 pm The Kalispell City Council on Monday made way for future growth in the core area. The council rezoned 82 lots in central Kalispell to the newly created B3 Zone, which expands the allowed usage within the zone to residential and business and allows for taller building height limits and reducing setbacks between structures. According to the city planning department, property owners in the area received letters of intent from the city to rezone the property. Senior City Planner Jarod Nygren said the department received nothing but positive feedback about rezoning the properties. Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner spoke in favor of the rezoning ordinance. Reducing the setbacks between buildings to zero, he said, will drive down the cost of those properties and encourage buyers once the railroad tracks have been removed from the area as part of the Core and Rail Redevelopment Plan. Council member Jim Atkinson nodded the Core and Rail Redevelopment Plan when he echoed Unterreiner’s support for the resolution. The plan looks to redevelop dozens of properties in Kalispell’s core area once the rail line is relocated outside of city limits, and repurpose land near the rail line for new business and residential development. “I’m once again excited about what is transpiring there in that area,” he said. “What the public needs to know is that the community development department will be talking with other businesses in that area and moving more into a B3 zone.” Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 7584441 or by email at [EMAIL REDACTED].