Commission OK’s Habitat for Humanity project on Railroad Street

The Columbia Falls Planning Commission last week approved the conversion of a city baseball park at Railroad Street to an affordable housing project, sending it to the city council with a positive recommendation.

Habitat for Humanity is proposing building six homes on the 1.3 acre lot, with an approximately 17,000 square foot park.

Four of the lots would face Fourth Avenue East North and the other two would face C Street East North.

The park/open space would be in the northwest corner of the lot.

If approved by council, the plan is to start construction later this summer.

The need for affordable housing is higher than ever in Columbia Falls. Habitat for Humanity has previously built several homes and even neighborhoods in Columbia Falls.

Including the Railroad Street project, Habitat is looking to build 11 homes in Columbia Falls in the next year or two. One is already under construction and others are in the works, including several townhomes.

Habitat for Humanity projects require homeowners to provide “sweat equity” when building their homes, which means they actually work on their projects.

“We give a hand up, not a hand out,” Executive Director MaryBeth Morand has previously said.

The homes come with deed restrictions that put a cap on the amount of equity a homeowner can build over time. For example, a homeowner won’t acquire any equity in the first five years and then it’s a sliding scale after that. 

This keeps potential buyers from simply “flipping” homes. Homes also cannot be bought and rented to another party, so no short-term rentals, either.

Specifically, the commission approved a growth policy amendment from park/open space to urban residential and a zone change from CB-2 (commercial) to CR-5 (two family residential). They also approved the subdivision itself.

It goes before the city council for a vote on May 19.

The city needs affordable housing more than ever, particularly since about 24 families at the Lazy Day Trailer Court of Highway 2 were issued eviction notices in April.