Board considers major Bigfork subdivision
The Daily Inter Lake
A major subdivision and planned unit development proposal in the Bigfork area comes before the Flathead County Planning Board for a public hearing tonight.
Mill Creek Estates would include 31 single-family home lots and 82 one-, two- and three-unit townhomes for a total of 113 living units on 37.6 acres on Chapman Hill Road immediately northwest of the intersection with Holt Drive.
The project features substantial open space, including landscaped berms along the exterior roadways, several interior ponds and a system of bike/pedestrian paths. It would be connected to public sewer and water services.
The Flathead County commissioners recently approved the master plan amendment and zone change for this property. Developer Reto Barrington also owns about 30 acres immediately to the east across Chapman Hill Road.
The property is zoned R-2, which typically allows two homes per acre. However, by submitting a planned unit development proposal and letting the planning staff and commissioners address multiple aspects of the project, Barrington gets a 50 percent density bonus, meaning he's allowed an average of three homes per acre.
Barrington is requesting deviations from some of the underlying zoning requirements, including minimum lot size, minimum lot width and permitted uses.
Specifically, he's proposing a minimum lot size of 10,200 square feet for a detached dwelling and 2,500 square feet for an attached dwelling. The minimum lot size in the R-2 zone is 20,000 square feet, or about a half-acre, and attached dwellings (such as duplex or triplex townhouses) are not a permitted use.
Barrington also wants a minimum lot width of 70 feet, versus the required 100 feet, and he wants to build a homeowners' clubhouse, which isn't a permitted use in the R-2 zone.
To offset these deviations, he's willing to set aside more than 14 acres of open space, or about seven times what's required under the county subdivision regulations. He also has agreed to rebuild and improve a portion of Chapman Hill Road and to build a public bike path along the south border of the property.
Other items on tonight's agenda include:
. A zone change from B-3 to B-2 general business for property located at 41 W. Reserve Dr. near the intersection with U.S. 2.
. A zone change in the Bigfork area from AG-40 agricultural to SAG-5 suburban agricultural for property located at 970 Swan Horseshoe.
. The preliminary plat of Eastview Center, a six-lot commercial subdivision on 7.25 acres on the west side of U.S. 2, just north of Reserve Drive.
The planning board meets in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett Building, beginning at 6 p.m.