No gravel-pit resolution yet

Planning Board will continue next week discussion of West Glacier project

The Flathead County Planning Board will continue its discussion of a West Glacier gravel pit next week, after questions were raised about the adequacy of a planning staff report.

The decision came at the end of a six-hour meeting Wednesday, with three hours devoted to other agenda items followed by three hours on the gravel pit.

More than 60 people attended the hearing, which addressed Robert Spoklie's efforts to expand the pit from 8 acres to 25 acres.

The project is on 35 acres off Belton Stage Road, just across the Middle Fork of the Flathead River from Glacier National Park. It's been in operation for a number of years, though there's some question about how extensive it was.

Several neighbors say the mine was always small-scale and possibly dormant for several years. However, the amount of gravel hauling and processing increased significantly in 2004, when Spoklie acquired the property.

Other than the applicant's representatives, two people spoke in favor of allowing the expansion to proceed.

Chris Dalimata said a gravel pit is needed in the Middle Fork area for both economic and safety reasons.

"The main issue for me is safety," said Dalimata, a member of the Canyon Area quick-response unit. "The most serious accidents in that area are in Badrock Canyon. If gravel isn't coming from a local pit, it's going to be hauled up from the valley. You have the opportunity to reduce truck traffic through the canyon, and reduce the chances of an accident."

Former Planning Board member Greg Stevens, representing Spoklie, echoed Dalimata's concerns.

If this pit isn't allowed to expand, Stevens said, then "hundreds of loads" of gravel would have to be hauled through Columbia Falls, Hungry Horse and West Glacier just to satisfy the material needs for the upcoming reconstruction of Going-to-the-Sun Road.

He suggested that most effects from the gravel pit could be addressed through conditions and through cooperative efforts.

For example, Stevens said Spoklie was willing to build a gravel path down Belton Stage Road, in the county's road right-of-way, if the county cleared the trees.

He also was willing to donate all of the raw, uncrushed gravel that the county needed to pave Belton Stage and other gravel roads in the area, Stevens said.

A dozen people spoke in opposition to the expansion. Most members of the audience also raised their hands to support denying the application.

"We may be a small community, but we have a strong vision of what we want our community to be like - and that doesn't include heavy industrial uses," said Charlie Logan, who said he was designated to speak for most Middle Canyon residents.

The area homeowners had a variety of concerns, Logan said, including traffic safety, effects on water quality and wildlife, and tourism effects. They also thought allowing the expansion would undermine the integrity of the Canyon zoning standards and reward Spoklie for violating the standards.

"Please don't allow one individual to negate our zoning regulations and ruin what we all came here for," he said. "Don't make that your legacy, just to provide cheap gravel."

As has been the case since Spoklie filed his application, there were disagreements Wednesday about almost every aspect of the proposal. The two sides have even filed competing, contradictory affidavits regarding how active the pit was in the years prior to 2004.

If the mine was dormant during that time period, then it would lose its grandfathered status and Spoklie would have to come in with an application for an entirely new operation.

The planning office is recommending that the expansion be denied, and that the operation be limited to the 2 acres that originally was permitted by the state.

"The evidence is probably there to support grandfathering the 2 acres," said Planning Director Jeff Harris. "Beyond that, any expanded use isn't compatible with that area. We're talking an industrial use in a residential area. That's what we based our evaluation on."

Stevens, however, said the planning staff report failed to address the specific standards and criteria laid out in the zoning regulations. Consequently, he questioned whether it would support a recommendation of any kind.

The planning staff disagreed, saying the report addressed all the relevant criteria.

Rather than sort through all this after midnight, the Planning Board postponed its discussion to a second meeting next week.

"I'm not comfortable voting on it tonight," said board member Jeff Larsen. "It's important to make sure we evaluate all the standards. This could well end up in court."

No additional comment from the public or the applicant will be accepted prior to or during next week's meeting, although the board will be free to ask whatever questions it wants.

The meeting takes place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett building. After the board makes a recommendation, the issue goes to the county commissioners for final action.

In other action on Wednesday, the planning board:

-Unanimously recommended approval of Holt Fields, a 12-lot single-family subdivision on 16.4 acres at 1925 Holt Stage, just south of Montana 35 and east of Fairmont Road.

-Unanimously recommended approval of Rocky Top, a three-lot single-family subdivision on 5 acres at 121 Horseshoe Drive.

-Recommended approval of the resubdivision of Lot 12 of Eagle Crest Bluffs, which would create two lots on 11 acres at 1143 Trappers Creek, south of Lakeside.

-Unanimously recommended approval of Whitefish Hills Phase 3, a 22-lot subdivision on 440 acres at 75 Whitefish Hills Drive, west of U.S. 93 and southwest of Whitefish.

-Unanimously recommended denial of Abel Ranch, a four-lot single-family subdivision on 61 acres at 361 Farm Road.

This project was part of a larger area, all under one ownership, that has been divided into multiple lots over the years.

The board felt there was a lack of overall planning in the area, with piecemeal lot development. It wanted to see a subdivision proposal for the whole property.