City OK’s planned unit development for employee housing

The Columbia Falls City Council last week approved a planned unit development that would allow Darin and Carla Fisher, the owners of Backslope Brewing to add some employee housing to a building they own next door.

The couple recently bought the former State Farm Insurance building. The plan is to put in dormitory-style housing in the basement for employees. The two apartments will serve four employees total.

The council passed the development, with Darin Fisher abstaining.

Finding housing for employees is a major challenge for businesses as demand has outstripped supply. Some local businesses have decided to put in their own housing,

Canyon Foods in Hungry Horse also has plans to put in employee housing and many homes in West Glacier have been bought up by businesses there for employee housing over the years, where they once were homes for full, or at least part-time, residents.

Pursuit, Glacier Park Collection, for example, owns a motel in Hungry Horse that’s used to house summer employees.

The brewery employs about 50 to 55 staffers in the summer months — many of them part-time, Carla Fisher said.

In addition to the beer, it’s also one of the most popular restaurants in the city and is typically packed in the summer months.

Carla Fisher said the current plans are to put in a walk-in cooler and food prep area in the back half of the upper building. The front part of the building may eventually be reserved for retail space, but that’s at least a year out, Fisher said.

In other news:

The city received a state Department of Natural Resources grant of $3,250 to remove at least three trees from River’s Edge Park near the fish pond because they pose falling hazards and replace them with three trees near the pond itself. The city is required to match the grant with $3,250 of its own monies. Other trees could be trimmed as well.