Bigfork subdivision runs into planning-board opposition

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead County Planning Board was in denial on Wednesday, tabling or recommending denial for every item on its agenda.

The board unanimously opposed a proposed growth policy amendment in the Bigfork area - echoing a similar vote by the Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee last month.

It also turned thumbs down to a Creston-area subdivision proposal and tabled a zoning text amendment related to gravel pits.

The Bigfork amendment would have converted 14 acres at the intersection of Holt Drive and Hanging Rock Drive from an agricultural land-use designation to urban residential. The applicants also requested a zone change to RC-1 residential cluster, which would have allowed up to 14 homes on the property.

Erica Wirtala with Sands Surveying, representing the applicants, said the higher density allowed under the residential cluster zoning would make it economical to extend public sewer and water to the site. Without that density, the property would probably be developed with large lots and individual septic systems.

However, in his staff report on the proposals, B.J. Grieve with the Flathead County Planning Office said that "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 planning board agreed with him and recommended denial of the amendment. The zone change was contingent upon the amendment, so the board didn't even vote on that.

The amendment now goes to the county commissioners for final action, unless the applicants withdraw the proposal.

In other action, the board:

. Recommended denial of the preliminary plat of Moon Light Trail, a 15-lot residential subdivision on 44 acres located along Holt Stage Road, just east of Montford Road.

Several neighbors attended the hearing and expressed concerns about road access. The first phase of the subdivision is at the end of a private road, which needs to be upgraded to county standards and possibly paved.

The board felt there were too many unanswered questions regarding access. They also wanted to see a more integrated design, as opposed to the initial design which featured two unattached phases.

. Tabled a zoning text amendment that would have changed the definition of the SAG-5 and SAG-10 suburban residential zoning districts and made them residential zones.

Several people spoke for or against this issue, which was prompted by a zoning decision last year that prohibited Flathead County from requiring conditional use permits for gravel pits in nonresidential zones.

However, the board was uncomfortable with some of the language in the staff report, which seemed to suggest that the larger-lot agricultural zones also would be considered residential. There's also a bill working its way through the Legislature that would clarify the county's ability to regulate gravel mines.

Consequently, the board tabled this issue until April 13.