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KALSIPELL CORE AREA PLAN

Presented ByTom JentzOctober 5, 2012Focus on Railroad Corridor

19 acres vacant land 50 UST/LUST sitesKalispell was built by and for the railroad in 1892. Since then the town has grown up, around and beyond the tracks, but the train comes in from the east side of town and must turn around a mile and a half down the line on the west end of town with only six level crossings allowing north-south connectivity. For 30 years this community has been talkingjust talkingabout getting the tracks out and we are now down to only two rail served businesses.The focus of the revitalization plan is the area along the rail road corridor within the city limits where historic uses all along the rail through town created a concentrated corridor of Brownfields sites. We are now faced with, conservatively 19 Brownfields sites, not counting the tracks themselves in the 364 square mile area encompassed by our Area Wide Planning effort. The purpose of this planning effort is to provide the city with a vision based on integrating community ideas and priorities, infrastructure mapping, identification of resources and then creating specific strategies to make revitalization in the area a reality.

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VISION STATEMENTThe vision of Kalispells revitalized core area is to transform from an industrially-oriented core into a new and vibrant, pedestrian friendly, mixed-use neighborhood, focusing upon retail, residential, entertainment, and cultural amenities designed to proudly and consistently complement the existing historic Kalispell downtown area.

Removal of the railroad tracksDevelop linear park/trail on old tracksIncrease north/south street accesses in the areaArchitectural designs to compliment downtownRemove blighted structuresReplace with a mix of retail, service, residential, public and open space uses Walkability Live, work and play Entrances features to define downtownMultiple use streets - car, pedestrian, bicycle

DRAFT GOALS

RelationshipsPartnershipsCredibilityVisionLessons learned

Build Relationships364 Acres1,100 Parcels450 Property Owners35Build partnerships

Flathead EconomicDevelopment Authority36Core Area Steering CommitteeRail-served property owner

Core Area business owner

Professional engineer

Community College representative

Planning Board member

County economic development agency president

Core Area bank leaders

Urban Renewal Agency (TIF) member

Kalispell Downtown Association President

Build credibility

Build vision

Consultant created design concepts from community input

Project members include:Tom Jentz, Planning DirectorSean Conrad,Senior Planner

For additional information on Kalispells Core Area Revitalization Plan contact:

Katharine ThompsonCommunity Development ManagerCity of Kalispellkthompson@kalispell.com406/758.7713

Thank you