Kalispell planners on Tuesday recommended that the City Council approve a conditional use permit allowing Fat Boys Restaurant and Casino to expand its indoor gaming area from 792 square feet to 947 square feet while keeping all work entirely inside the existing 5,500-square-foot building.

Planner staff told the commission the 155-square-foot increase remains below the 20% threshold that defines accessory casino use under the zoning code and that the gaming area will remain fully indoors and separated from dining by permanent walls. Staff said the proposal brings a longstanding interior gaming use into compliance with current zoning and recommended approval subject to listed conditions, including constructing a missing sidewalk segment along the Highway 2 West frontage.

During public comment a local contractor urged the commission to reconsider the sidewalk condition, calling it an ‘‘extraordinary cost for a small business’’ for a short segment that "goes nowhere." Planning staff replied the sidewalk is part of the city standard, ties into the transportation plan and the corridor's pedestrian network, and that recent nearby development has constructed adjoining sidewalk segments that this piece would connect.

The commission approved the staff recommendation in a roll-call vote and will forward the recommendation to the City Council. The permit includes standard conditions addressing signage, building and life-safety permits, compliance with gaming separation standards, and the frontage sidewalk requirement. Staff noted that any future change that exposed gaming to the general dining area could be pursued as a zoning violation or through the building-permit process.