City considering vacating, rezoning property for GFPS
The Great Falls Public Schools district acquired six lots from the city in Kranz Park near Great Falls High School and is asking the city to vacate the rights of way for 17th Street South between 3rd Avenue South and 4th Avenue South and 4th Alley South and aggregate those vacated areas.
The City Commission will consider the request during their March 1 meeting.
Last year, the city swapped property with GFPS and the district got six lots from the city that are within Kranz Park.
The district is planning a parking lot, closer to the high school stadium, and extending the practice fields further west onto the those lots.
GFPS asking for rezone, aggregation of Kranz Park lots for parking lot, practice fields
GFPS is also requesting to rezone those lots from parks and open space to public lands and institutional, which would unify the school’s property under one zoning district.
Staff recommends that the aggregation be approved to eliminate unnecessary lot lines making it easier for the district to construct future facilities in compliance with the city zoning code.
Neighborhood Council 9 and the city’s planning board considered and voted to recommend approval of the request during December meetings.
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The district has filed an application to vacate the rights-of-way for 17th Street South between 3rd Ave S and 4th Ave S, and 4th Alley South, adjacent to the six lots the school district has acquired. In addition to the right-of-way vacation request, the school district is also requesting to rezone the acquired lots and the vacated rights-of-way, as well as a non-administrative plat to aggregate the vacated rights-of-ways.
There are some existing city utilities in the area and city staff has spoken with the district about any necessary easements and access to those utilities.
Rezoning the properties will “unify the school’s property under one zoning district, as well as give the school the ability to use the property to its full potential in the future. In the short term, the district’s proposal to expand the school’s parking, as well as extend the practice fields complies with the property’s current PLI zoning,” according to staff report.
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Staff is recommending approval of the request to vacate the rights of way and rezone “because it creates a completely unified campus that will allow the district future opportunities for improvement of their high school facilities,” according to the staff report.
After Neighborhood Council 9 voted in December to recommend approval of the project, a council representative raised concerns during the Feb. 1 commission meeting.
During that meeting, the council representative raised concern about traffic flow between 3rd and 4th Avenues South, as well as the potential loss of the two sidewalks along 17th Street South. A suggestion was made in the meeting to rededicate 18th Avenue South between the two avenues and replace the lost sidewalks by running a new one through the park.
City staff said that in order to rededicate 18th Street South, both the school district and adjacent property owners would need to subdivide their properties and dedicate land to the city. There are no current plans to do that, according to the city staff report.
The district’s plan for a parking lot next to the stadium will allow vehicles using school property to move between 3rd and 4th Avenue South, according to city staff.
The land swap between GFPS and the city also includes plans for improving Kranz Park with a pavilion, play structure and a sidewalk connecting those structures to 3rd Avenue South.
The district’s parking lot plan also includes a sidewalk on the west side of the parking lot between 3rd and 4th Avenues South.
