Board OKs expansion of gravel pit

Planners limit size of West Glacier operation

The Flathead County Planning Board crafted a Solomonic compromise Wednesday, allowing a West Glacier gravel pit to expand, but limiting the size of the operation.

In its 36th and last meeting of 2005, the board recommended approval of Robert Spoklie's request to expand a gravel pit on Belton Stage Road from 7.6 acres to 24 acres.

However, the board attached more than two dozen conditions to the proposal - including one that limits the active mining area to a maximum of 2 acres at any given time and restricts the total disturbed area to 7.6 acres.

The board also wants the extraction areas to be reclaimed as the operation proceeds, rather than waiting until the entire 24 acres are mined.

Other conditions include limiting gravel crushing and screening to certain times of the year to minimize impacts during the peak summer tourist season and on wildlife in the fall; requiring the construction of a 6-feet-wide gravel bike path along Belton Stage, from the gravel pit north to U.S. 2; and prohibiting gravel trucks from using loud engine brakes.

There was also some question whether the gravel pit is a nonconforming use or not.

If it is, then Spoklie will have to secure a conditional-use permit from the Flathead County Board of Adjustment before he can proceed - even if the commissioners approve this expansion application.

If the commissioners deny the application, the conditional-use permit would be a moot point and the expansion would be blocked (subject to legal challenge).

This was the second meeting of the Planning Board on the expansion application.

More than 60 people turned out for a public hearing on the proposal last week. Given the late hour when that hearing wrapped up, the board agreed to postpone discussion until this week.

A number of confusing and contradictory components made this a particularly challenging application for the board.

For example, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality originally permitted the gravel pit several years ago, limiting it to 2 acres.

However, during a state review in 1990, the DEQ inspector recognized that the mine had exceeded its permit boundaries - yet failed to require the operator to apply for a revised permit at that time.

"The department was aware in 1990 that the pit had been expanded, but didn't say anything about it. This thing has been allowed to stand, with DEQ knowledge," said board member Tim Calaway on Wednesday.

More recently, after Spoklie acquired the pit in 2004, the Planning Office staff said the state erred once again, transferring the permit to him without the necessary zoning-compliance letter from the county.

"If [Spoklie] had gotten a permit from the county when he acquired the mine, as required, all of this would have been addressed long ago," said board member Kim Fleming. "The fact that DEQ issued a permit for this doesn't hold any weight with me. They've made mistakes."

Board member Gene Dziza said he wasn't "hung up" on whether the pit should be limited to 2 acres or 7 acres. The issue to him was whether this was the best location for the project.

"We all know that we have to have gravel pits where there's gravel," Dziza said. "We're dealing with an application to expand a gravel pit to 24 acres, and our job is to determine if this is an appropriate area for that use. I know this will have some impacts in the immediate neighborhood, but it looks like a pretty rural area."

Given the proximity of the pit to Glacier National Park, the generally residential character of the surrounding neighborhood and the substandard condition of Belton Stage Road, the county planning staff thought a large-scale gravel pit was incompatible with the area.

The application now goes to the county commissioners for a decision.