Planning Board approves new apartment complex

The Columbia Falls city-county planning board Tuesday approved plans to move forward with the construction 207-unit apartment complex on 13.83 acres at the end of Bill’s Lane. The vote was unanimous, with member Anna Stene absent.

Bill’s Lane is a short street that is directly across from Perfect Cuts. The site was previously approved for a subdivision years ago, but the housing market crashed.

The city council will take up the applications at its Aug. 6 meeting, with a public hearing at 7 p.m. The council has the final say in the application.

Missouri-based Greenway Capital, LLC petitioned the planning board for a growth policy amendment to change the use designation of the land from Urban Residential Land Use (which allows for 2-8 dwellings per acre) to Multi-Family Land Use (8-20 dwellings per acre). The company also requested that the two plots be rezoned from single-family residential (CR-3) to residential apartment (CRA-1). In addition, the company also asked that the apartment buildings be allowed to stand 43 feet tall, eight feet above the current limit of 35 feet.

The proposed Highline Apartments would include five 36-unit and one 27-unit three-story apartment buildings. Each building would include 12 studio units, 18 one-bedroom units and six units with two bedrooms, for a total of 207 units, though the project would start out with 72 units.

In addition, the complex would include a playground, a fire pit, game courts, a Frisbee golf course and a small clubhouse, which would house the on-site management.

The plan also includes 306 parking spaces.

The apartments would be rented with 12-month leases, with the estimated cost breakdown of $650 for studio apartments, $795 for one-bedroom and $995 for two-bedroom units.

According to Greenway Capital’s application documents, the company expects the majority of the tenants to be singles or couples with only a limited amount of families, as only 36 of the units are two-bedroom. The company also anticipates demand among retirees and older tenants who no longer wish to own a single-family residence.

“Realtor and market trends show a tremendous need for housing of all types, but especially in the lower price ranges,” the company said in its application. “Many of the existing housing and rental stocks are older and of poor quality in these price ranges. This project should fill an immediate need to provide workforce rental units in quality new buildings and will continue to meet additional need in the future.”

The majority of concern voiced about the project involved an increase in traffic congestion around the complex. A study by Abelin Traffic Services in Helena states that the project will produce up to 1,383 daily car trips within the area after completion and will increase traffic along Third Avenue and 9th Street, but “will not create any roadway capacity problems within the area under normal seasonal traffic conditions.”

The report did go on to say that summer traffic conditions will most-likely create some traffic congestion at the intersection of Highway 2 and Third Avenue, but that congestion could me mitigated with the addition of left and right turn lanes.

Traffic was the main concern from neighbors in the area. The planning board also added a condition that increased the height of the fence around the property. The site is out of the 100-year flood plain and a forest part of the site to the east would be preserved.

Under its current plan, Greenway Capital would complete construction in three phases, running from October 2018 through 2023. Phase one would include buildings one and two and the clubhouse with construction running for 12 months beginning in October of this year. Phase two would be for buildings three and four with a 12-month construction period beginning in October 2020 and phase three would complete the project with construction running from 2022-23.