City considering converting baseball field to housing

The City of Columbia Falls will look at possibly partnering with Habitat for Humanity and the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust on converting a parcel of city-owned land off Railroad Street into affordable housing.

The 1.3 acre lot is currently a youth baseball field, but doesn’t get a lot of use, according to city officials. It is not deeded as park land, city manager Susan Nicosia told council last week.

If it was deeded as a park, it would require a vote by the public to actually sell it, she noted.

Still, it would be a public process if the city decides to convert the land. Councilman John Piper, who was a longtime youth baseball coach, noted that it’s mostly used by younger kids and from a ballpark perspective, its proximity to the road and its lack of parking wasn’t ideal.

Still, there was concern amongst council on how best to replace it — possibly just have a smaller park in the same location.

The lot does have some city service already — it has water as the ball field has a sprinkler system.

The plan, if it comes to fruition, would encourage multi-family housing, which is in high demand in Columbia Falls.

Council formally gave Nicosia the go-ahead to pursue the matter further.

In other city news Nicosia reported that the city resort tax is on target to meet the city’s estimate of raising about $1.5 million in revenue for the fiscal year.