In the second week of October, two Kalispell city boards spent time on the Parkline Trail. Neither one discussed the path itself. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the Planning Commission talked about how buildings along the trail should look. Two days later, the Urban Renewal Agency recommended funding for a mall redevelopment that includes a proposed new trailhead on the Parkline Trail.
Both meetings start from the same fact. The zoning on land next to the trail already allows almost any kind of building. Height and use are mostly settled. The open questions are setbacks, access points, and who pays for the streets and trail connections that bring people to the path. If you walk or ride the trail between Meridian Road and Woodland Park, those are the decisions that will shape what you see along the way.
What the Zoning Already Permits
The Parkline Trail replaced the railroad tracks through town in 2022. The Daily Inter Lake described it at opening as a 1.6-mile linear park from Meridian Road to Woodland Park, with a plaza between Main Street and First Avenue just north of Depot Park. Alta Planning + Design, the trail's design firm, lists it at 1.7 miles. Toward the east end, the BNSF locomotive and the Charles E. Conrad interpretive plaque mark the corridor's railroad history.
The land on both sides is zoned more permissively than most residents might guess. According to the Daily Inter Lake's Oct. 16 report, the B-3 Core Area Business designation allows buildings up to 60 feet tall by right, with no height limit under a conditional use permit. The same zoning removes minimum lot size, setbacks, and maximum lot coverage, and it cuts minimum parking requirements in half.
Building has already started under those rules. Parkline Towers, at 820 E. Idaho St., sits between East Idaho Street and the trail. Its trail-side tower began renting in May 2025, and the completed 224-apartment complex held a ribbon cutting on Aug. 7, 2025. It has a dog park and a pavilion that open directly onto the trail. Farther west, the first 40-unit building at The Silos, at Center Street and Fifth Avenue West, opened to tenants on Feb. 1, 2024.
Mayor Ryan Hunter first pushed for design standards because he worried the land around the trail would fill with parking lots and other unappealing structures. City Council took up the idea at a June work session and sent it to the Planning Commission for a first look.
On Oct. 13, the Talk Turned to Setbacks and Sightlines
Only three Planning Commission members attended. The item was for discussion only, so no quorum was needed and no votes were taken. According to the Daily Inter Lake, members were more interested in loose design standards for buildings along the trail than in rules about how those buildings get used.
Board member Cate Walker supported wide setbacks between buildings and the trail so the corridor wouldn't feel enclosed. She also supported frequent access points along the path.
Board President Rory Young suggested writing the city's vision for the trail into its growth policy instead of adopting design standards. He also named a stretch of the corridor as a model. He said the city's vision most closely matches the current feel of the area where SunRift Beer Company and Mountain Berry Bowls operate, though that layout may not fit everywhere along the trail.
"I get nervous about dictating standards that need to apply because it's so diverse." Rory Young, Kalispell Planning Commission president, as quoted by the Daily Inter Lake
Board member Brett Huff supported mixed-use development along the trail. PJ Sorensen, Kalispell's director of development services, pointed out that the current zoning already allows it. "The question is whether it is something you want to require," he said. Huff and Walker agreed that mixed-use buildings should not be required and that standards should stay flexible.
So the city's main tool here is limited. The rules could guide where a building sits and how it meets the path, but probably not much else. The most concrete trail-side change on the table came two days later, from a different board.
A Trailhead Arrives by Way of the Mall
On Thursday, Oct. 15, the Urban Renewal Agency voted unanimously to recommend a $13.9 million tax increment financing request from Parkline Partners, an affiliate of SHOP Development Company, the Texas-based owner of Kalispell Center Mall. The Flathead Beacon reported that the developer had earlier cut its request from $23 million to $16.9 million before withdrawing that application. The city manager's Oct. 16 memo confirms the board forwarded the recommendation to a future City Council agenda. The same memo notes that the board also recommended a Kalispell Business Improvement District request to replace downtown benches, trash receptacles, and planters.
The request would pay for infrastructure, not storefronts. It would extend 3rd Avenue West through the mall property, demolish the former Herberger's building and fill the hole it leaves, and extend utilities to the west side of the site. It would also rebuild the West Center Street and 5th Avenue West right-of-way with new paving, trees, lighting, and sidewalks that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. For trail users, the key piece is a new trailhead at 3rd Avenue West that would connect to the Parkline Trail. It would include bike racks, a bike repair station, seating, and a drinking fountain.
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce CEO Lorraine Clarno told the board that the city's Core Area Plan, transportation plan, and downtown plan all call for better connections in that area. Some of those plans specifically name extending 3rd Avenue West as an alternative route to Main Street and Highway 93. "The question in front of you this afternoon is not whether we want the street," she said, as reported by the Beacon. "It's how do we pay for it."
The street, utilities, and trailhead are only phase one. Plans for the rest of the site are much less settled.
| Piece of the plan | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| 3rd Avenue West extension, about $10.9 million | In the TIF request; Council has not voted |
| Utilities plus Center Street and 5th Avenue West streetscape, about $2.9 million | In the TIF request; Council has not voted |
| Trailhead at 3rd Avenue West | Proposed as part of the request |
| Exterior facade and mall interior | Moved to phase two |
| Hotel, bank, event center, green space, new retail | Expected in the full redevelopment |
| Flathead County Library on the northwest corner | Library in talks to buy the site |
The plan has also changed shape over the past few months. In September, the Daily Inter Lake reported that the mall's west side would be split into five separate buildings to make storefronts more visible from outside, and that Red Lion Hotel is part of the project. The same report said park space in an earlier design had been replaced by another retail building. SHOP Companies founding partner Daniel Fuller told the Beacon that the new west-side proposal treats the existing Herberger's wall as a temporary "like-for-like" remediation, a change that lowered costs.
Both meetings point the same way. The Planning Commission is leaning toward light rules for buildings next to the trail. Meanwhile, the clearest new public amenity on the corridor depends on a private redevelopment winning public funding.
Between Now and the Next Trail Season
Here is the order of events, based on what has been reported:
- City Council review. The Beacon reported the request would go to Council "in the coming weeks." It was not on the Oct. 19 Council agenda.
- Construction, if approved. The development team expects about 18 months of construction for the 3rd Avenue West, Center Street, and 5th Avenue West improvements and the site utilities.
- Trail-side design rules. The Planning Commission has discussed them but taken no vote. Board President Rory Young has suggested putting the city's vision for the trail in its growth policy instead.
For now, the trail is settling into its off-season. The city manager's Oct. 16 memo says irrigation at 28 city parks and park restrooms have been winterized. Portable restrooms are now at Woodland Park, the trail's eastern end, and will stay through the winter. The same memo notes that crews have been removing graffiti from the same spot on the Parkline Trail repeatedly over the past several weeks. Last winter, Kalispell Parks and Recreation ran a Winter Walkers group that met every Tuesday and Thursday to walk the trail with Parks staff. The Winter–Spring 2027 Recreation Program Guide is being prepared with the Daily Inter Lake. Seventeen of the 28 community program proposals have been picked for further development.
If you walk past the old Herberger's wall this winter, the 3rd Avenue West trailhead is still a line item awaiting a Council vote. For more on the rest of the city, see our Kalispell neighborhood page and our look at how Kalispell's summer calendar runs past the fair.
At All Montana Real Estate, we follow changes like the 3rd Avenue West extension and the trail-side design discussion because they affect daily life in the Core Area long before anything is built. If you'd like to talk about what these plans could mean for a home near the Parkline Trail, please contact us.
