Amazon scouts Helena for a distribution center. Neighbors are rallying against it.

The global online retailer Amazon has its sights set on Helena for a potential distribution center, city officials confirmed Thursday, but staff warn it's very early in the process. Still, neighbors are already rallying against it.

The proposed warehouse would be near Mountain View Meadows, city documents show. Although city paperwork has omitted the Amazon name thus far, city spokesperson Amanda Opitz said representatives from Amazon previously worked with city staff to understand Helena's annexation and permitting process.

The omission of the company name didn't stop the rumor mill. Many Helenans had contacted city officials over the previous week urging them to push the warehouse elsewhere. Interest in an Amazon warehouse near Mountain View Meadows goes back at least a year, housing developer Mark Runkle said.

The company will need to overcome several steps to get permission to build the warehouse at its proposed location, and the project is far from guaranteed, Opitz said.

“Though application materials do not specify the name of the business, representatives from Amazon were in touch with City staff after the pre-application came through to talk about the process for annexation and conditional use,” Opitz said. “It is the City’s understanding that the intended occupant of the warehouse distribution center is Amazon.”

The proposed project

The warehouse topic was brought up at Monday's City Commission meeting by City Commissioner Julia Gustafson, who said she’d received multiple complaints from the public about a potential Amazon distribution center being set up in the Queen City.

The company is eyeing a parcel of land near Mountain View Meadows, city planner Michael Alvarez confirmed, but the land isn’t currently permitted for something like a distribution center.

He’s referring to a chunk of land called 3645 Alice St. in city documents, which are currently under review for a zoning change and summarized in the city’s permit portal as: “Development across the street of Crossroads Pkwy from the Site Location. Site to be Annexed into the City of Helena with the intent to be a Warehouse Distribution Center, zoned as commercial.”

It’s nicknamed “Project Highline” in city documents, and the applicant, Spencer Draper, is with developer Venture West.

According to city documents, the proposed warehouse would be designed for “packaged intake, sorting and outbound delivery operations, with associated parking and limited office space.”

In its pitch for a B-2 zoning, which opens the door for a Conditional Use Permit that would allow it to operate as a full distribution center, the developer said a warehouse would bring jobs, boost the local tax base and "accelerate economic diversification," city documents accessed Wednesday said.

The current zoning of the land in question doesn’t allow for a distribution center, Alvarez told Gustafson on Monday.

For the project to come to fruition at its proposed location near Mountain View Meadows, developers would have to follow several steps, city staff said, including getting a pre-zone recommendation from the Zoning Commission and going through multiple meetings with the Helena City Commission for annexation.

Down the road, an applicant could apply for a Conditional Use Permit, which would allow the applicant to use the land for things outside its usual designated use.

Alvarez said no guarantees of approval had been given to the applicant.

“To repeat what I heard, it’s early in the process and there will be plenty of opportunities for the public to comment,” Gustafson said Monday.

The project was originally planned to go in front of the Zoning Commission on April 14, but city staff have requested to table the topic due to an improperly completed transportation impact study, which analyzes how roads and traffic will be affected by a proposed project, Opitz said Wednesday.

“The caveat, of course, is that the project is still very preliminary,” Opitz said Thursday.

Local outrage and curiosity

Although the Amazon warehouse was first brought up at a Commission meeting Monday, Helenans who live near the proposed site rallied against the project ahead of the meeting.

Many are Mountain View Meadows residents who warned against air pollution, noise and increased traffic in a steadily growing subdivision. Some pointed to Helena’s Land Use Plan, a guiding document that made recommendations on where to allow certain types of growth, and said an Amazon warehouse so close to housing would be against the Queen City’s stated goals for sustainability.

“If there were a large manufacturing distribution center nearby when I was purchasing property, I would never have considered a home purchase,” one submitted public comment said. “It compromises the neighborhood.”

“I don’t think that’s an appropriate location,” said Runkle.

Runkle and his wife, Rebecca Ryland, are the head developers behind Mountain View Meadows. According to them, this isn’t the first attempt by Amazon to secure a Helena location.

Amazon approached Runkle and Ryland about a year ago asking for land, which he turned down, Runkle said Wednesday.

In his opinion, a warehouse is better suited in an industrial part of town — away from where people live and relax.

Ryland doesn’t think the city is acting in bad faith by hearing out Amazon, she said. However, she said she strongly hopes Amazon finds a more suitable location.

“(If) B-2 zoning is approved, it opens the gate for them to apply for a Conditional Use Permit. Not only is the distribution center incompatible with existing land uses, but it will undermine the Helena Forward Land Use Plan adopted by the mayor and city commissioners in November,” Ryland said Wednesday. “In the plan, this area is designated for residential mixed-use essential for much needed city housing. The right thing to do is vote no for this zone change for this proposed land use.”

Monday marked the first Helena Chamber of Commerce President Callie Aschim had heard of the Amazon project, and she said she’s planning to work with Butte to see how it changed things in the Mining City, which saw an Amazon distribution center open in September.

“As with any potential development, the priority is ensuring that any growth in the Helena area strengthens our community, respects our local character, and creates shared benefit over the long term,” Aschim said Thursday. “ Large-scale projects can bring both opportunities and questions. As we learn more, the focus should remain on how this possibility could complement Helena’s economy, workforce and quality of life.”