Board OKs new Hotel
By BECCA PARSONS
Hungry Horse News
The Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board and Zoning Commission Tuesday approved a request by Ruis Holdings for a Planned Unit Development on the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 2 and 2nd Avenue West, east of the city pool and Pinewood Park for a new hotel.
Ruis Holdings plans to build a three-story hotel in two phases. The first would be 64 rooms and a 3,000-square-foot conference room for 200 people. The second phase would add 18 rooms after the hotel establishes how much demand there is, possibly four to five years in the future. This is the first hotel within city limits.
City contract planner Eric Mulcahy reviewed the plan, giving it 12 conditions of approval that addressed the plan’s deviations to the large building standards. The height limit for a structure in this location is 45 feet, and the company’s request is for 48 feet. Mulcahy said that the angle of the gable roof is such that it would make the building look smaller. Also, parapets on the roof of the conference room would camouflage heating and cooling equipment. Fire Chief Rick Hagen evaluated the plans for health and safety and approved the height because he would have access to the roof.
Another requirement is a 10-foot buffer between the building and the property line. A small protrusion extends to within 5 feet of the western boundary; however, the buffer is closer to 50 feet on the rest of that side, Mulcahy said.
The parking lot is required to have 162 spaces — 87 spaces for the hotel guests and employees — and one space per 40 square feet of conference room. Ruis proposed 126 spaces. The city allowed a shared parking provision for this parking shortage in that the conference room would most often be used 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the hotel would be busiest at night.
The city also proposed two options, in conjunction with paving Second Street West, to alleviate the parking shortage. The first and recommended option would be diagonal street parking with a condition that the developers pay for the extra pavement. This option would provide about 24 extra spaces for the hotel, conference room and summer markets on Thursday evening. The second option is to have parallel street parking, which would only provide 14 spaces.
Board member Russ Vukonich had concerns about pedestrian traffic crossing the highway at Second Avenue. City manager Susan Nicosia said that the city will be doing a transportation study starting this year. She noted that the Montana Department of Transportation officials are “not big fans of crosswalks.”
Board member Lee Schlesinger wanted to know where conference guests would get snacks.
There is space for caterers to serve meals and it would also be provided by the hotel facilities that also serve breakfast to guests, Rod Shaw of Columbia Falls said. Shaw is a partner with Ruis in the development.
Richard and Karen Huston grew up in Columbia Falls. They were away for 40 years and when they visited they noticed drastic change in the city that worried them. Richard said that Nucleus Avenue was becoming a ghost street, but now the hotel will rebuild the town.
Karen said that she grew up on Second Avenue West near the property where the proposed hotel is to be built. At that time, about 100 people lived in mobile homes on the property, yet she always felt she lived in a quiet neighborhood.
“I don’t think the hotel would negatively impact the neighborhood,” she said.
The application now goes to the Columbia Falls City Council for review on Monday.