Board hears proposals regarding gravel pits, Bigfork development
The Flathead County Planning Board will hold public hearings on a variety of issues tonight, including a controversial growth policy amendment and zone change in the Bigfork area and a zoning text amendment related to gravel pits.
Thomas Peterson and Maxine Johnson have asked to amend the growth policy from agricultural to urban residential for 14 acres immediately northwest of the intersection of Holt Drive and Hanging Rock Drive, just north of the Eagle Bend Golf Course.
They also want to change the zoning on the property from SAG-10, a suburban agricultural zone with a 10-acre minimum lot size, to RC-1 residential cluster, a residential zone that allows a gross density of one home per acre. A related zone change is being requested for the 36 acres adjacent to this property, from SAG-10 to SAG-5.
The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee has twice recommended denial of the growth policy amendment, in part because of concerns about the lack of suitable building sites.
The Flathead County Planning Office report on the proposal notes that about a third of the property is covered by a wetlands. It also says the applicants could simply change the zoning to SAG-5 and get almost as many lots on the property without amending the growth policy.
"The presence of nearby open ponds and seasonally flooded wetlands covering roughly one-third of the property makes this area inappropriate for urban residential development," the report says.
However, the planning staff also suggests that the proposed zone changes fail to satisfy five of the 12 statutory criteria, noting that they "largely ignore the presence of potential environmental dangers associated with high water tables, wetlands and soils incompatible with residential construction."
The planning board also will hold a hearing on a proposed text amendment that would clarify the residential nature of the SAG-5 and SAG-10 zoning districts.
This amendment, which is being requested by Flathead County, was prompted by a zoning decision last year that prohibited the county from regulating most new gravel pits.
That decision is currently being appealed to District Court; however, this proposal would ensure that at least in these two zoning districts, conditional use permits could continue to be required for any new gravel pits.
Specifically, the text amendment changes the definition of the SAG-5 and SAG-10 zones to clarify that they are intended primarily for estate-type residential development.
The amendment also adds language stating that - for the purposes of interpreting state law regarding gravel pits or concrete and asphalt plants - any zoning district which includes residential uses as a permitted use is considered residential.
This section would potentially allow the county to require conditional use permits for gravel operations in several other zoning districts.
The only other item on tonight's agenda is the preliminary plat for Moon Light Trail, a 15-lot residential subdivision proposed on 44 acres along Holt Stage Road just east of Middle Road.
The planning board meets in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett Building in Kalispell, beginning at 6 p.m.
Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com