Board OKs three gravel pits, but sides dig in over a fourth
The Flathead County Board of Adjustment unanimously approved three gravel pit applications on Tuesday, but a battle is looming over a fourth proposal.
About 80 people attended the meeting, which featured conditional-use permits for two gravel pits in the West Valley and one near Bigfork.
The specific items approved include a 23-acre expansion of LHC's existing 116-acre gravel pit on Stillwater Road; Les Keller's 10-acre gravel pit on McMannamy Draw; and an amended permit and 10-acre expansion for the Klempel pit on Coverdell Road, north of Bigfork.
Only moderate opposition was voiced on any of the projects. Instead, most of the resistance was directed at a project that won't even come before the board until next week.
The Tutvedt Family Partnership is requesting a conditional-use permit for a 320-acre gravel mine at the intersection of Farm to Market Road and Church Road. The board will hold a public hearing on that application on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The proposal has sharply divided the West Valley community. Many homeowners say it would ruin the area's rural residential character, while others say it's an appropriate use that's clearly permitted under the West Valley Neighborhood Plan.
However, while the plan allows "gravel extraction" as a conditional use, it fails to define the term. Some people think it includes commercial mining operations; others say it refers to small-scale mining by farmers for their personal use.
Several speakers on Tuesday, for example, cited the Keller proposal - a 10-acre gravel pit that specifically prohibits an asphalt plant and that has significant restrictions on the hours of operation and hours of crushing - as exactly the kind of thing envisioned when the West Valley plan was crafted more than a decade ago.
They took a much harsher view of the Tutvedt proposal, which includes an asphalt plant and which would be in place for decades.
Other speakers also questioned whether the valley really needs so many gravel mines.
"Is there a plan to regulate the number of pits, or the total acreage?" asked Tom Heatherington. "We regulate liquor licenses so we don't have a bar on every corner. Maybe we need to regulate the number of gravel pits."
The board also approved conditional-use permits for a proposed tavern at 2612 U.S. 2 East in Evergreen and for a 105-foot wireless communication tower at 25 Grigg Road.