City OK’s Habitat for Humanity homes at park

The Columbia Falls City Council last week approved the conversion of a city baseball park at Railroad Street to an affordable housing project.

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.

Three people spoke against the project, with one man insisting the development didn’t have a good snow removal plan. He claimed the city was already piling snow on his lot, which is nearby. He also complained about the poor condition of city streets in the neighborhood.

But city planner Eric Mulcahy noted that the homes will be on bigger lots than most existing city lots and there was snow storage available on the boulevard between sidewalks and homes. As far as the streets were concerned, councilmembers agreed they were in bad shape and needed work, but that was a separate issue from the development itself.

Still, the neighbor was unhappy and angrily left the meeting.

Another woman said she opposed losing the park and its open space. But Mayor Don Barnhart, who initially opposed the idea when it was first discussed, said the city had a high need for affordable housing.

As far as loss of the baseball field, the city has plans for a T-ball field at Horine Park or at the junior high school.

A couple of people also spoke in favor of the project. Hunter D’Antuono said he wouldn’t have been able to afford a home without Habitat’s help.

“It’s the only viable path for home ownership for me,” he said.

Leigh Liebig, whose family goes back generations in the Flathead Valley — a mountain is named after her kin — had similar sentiments.

“Habitat for us is a pathway to home ownership,” she said, an infant child strapped to her chest.

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.

These are modest homes with a cost of $350,000 to $400,000, with attached garages, noted Mary Beth Morand, director of Flathead Habitat.

Prospective owners will qualify for low interest mortgages of about 2%. Local contractors will be used for the parts of the home that are subcontracted, like plumbing and electrical, she said.

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

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 council approved a growth policy amendment from parkopen space to urban residential and a zone change from CB-2 (commercial) to CR-5 (two family residential). They also approved the subdivision itself.

The parkland with the subdivision will be maintained by the homeowner’s association, but will be open to the general public.

Habitat hopes to break ground on the Railroad Street project in August, with completion by February 2027. The nonprofit is also building five other homes in Columbia Falls, including one near Columbus Park and several townhomes elsewhere.

Morand said three of the four families in those projects are Columbia Falls residents. 

“We’re building homes for people in Columbia Falls,” she said.

The city needs affordable housing more than ever, particularly since about 24 families at the Lazy Day Trailer Court off Highway 2 were issued eviction notices in April. They have to be out by October.