County commissioners OK timeline for drafting growth policy

A draft growth policy will be available for public review by April 30 next year, under a schedule approved by the Flathead County commissioners on Wednesday.

The schedule was submitted by consultant Bill Collins, who has been hired to help shepherd the policy to completion.

After a three-day series of public meetings in May, Collins and consultant Lane Kendig proposed two alternative approaches that the county could use to complete its policy by the statutory deadline of Oct. 1, 2006.

One approach called for Collins and Kendig to take a very active role in crafting the document. The price tag for this option was $135,000 to $154,000.

The second alternative, which costs about $58,000, called for the consultants to play an advisory role. Most of the work would be done by the Flathead County planning staff and the Long-Range Planning Task Force.

Under either alternative, the Flathead County Planning Board largely would be cut out of the process, despite having spent more than two years working on the policy.

The growth policy is the county's fundamental planning document. It's intended to outline the community's long-term vision for the valley, providing a basis for future zoning, subdivision and land-use decisions.

Planning jurisdictions throughout Montana must adopt growth policies by Oct. 1, 2006. Otherwise, they won't be able to modify existing zoning designations or approve newly zoned areas.

On Wednesday, the commissioners voted 2-1 to accept the consultants' $58,000 option.

The schedule indicates that the county planning staff will be responsible for writing the main text of the growth policy, with Collins and Kendig providing guidance and advice.

The first step will be to craft a series of "issue papers" dealing with the five major topics that the consultants identified during their May visit.

These topics - quality of life, community character, growth management, natural resources and affordable housing - are at the heart of the community's debate about growth, according to the consultants.

An issue paper will be written for each topic, outlining the different land-use management options and implementation strategies that the community can use to achieve its goals. The strengths and weaknesses of each alternative also will be discussed.

When the papers are finished, two hearings will be held to take public comment.

A series of "build out" maps will be created, offering visual evidence of what the county would look like under different development scenarios.

The maps are scheduled to be completed by Feb. 1, after which the consultants and planning staff will conduct a three-day public forum.

Participants in the forum will decide which management alternatives to include in the growth policy.

The draft policy then will be completed, after which a series of public hearings will be held in preparation for adopting the final document.

Commissioner Bob Watne voted against this proposed schedule Wednesday because it relegates the planning board to a subordinate role.

"It looks to me like Collins is running the show and not the planning board," Watne said. "This doesn't give them any options."

Commissioner Gary Hall disagreed, saying the planning board still would provide critical input. In fact, Wednesday's action dictates that the board will be "the first line of public review for documents created jointly by Collins & Associates and the planning staff."

"The board will have a lot of involvement in writing the growth policy," Hall said.

However, the schedule gives the Long-Range Planning Task Force - a group that was created by Hall earlier this year, ostensibly to look at long-term issues such as infrastructure needs - a much clearer role in preparing the growth policy.

The task force will be responsible for creating a resource analysis document, which typically is included as an appendix to the growth policy.

The resource document provides a broad range of reference material needed to support the goals contained in the overall policy, including information about population trends, roads, sewer and water infrastructure, wetlands and flood plain locations, wildlife habitat, soil quality, historical and architectural resources, conservation easements, parks and bike paths, and existing land uses and zoning designations.

(The task force, which held its regular monthly meeting Thursday, still is trying to figure out how to produce this document. Some confusion exists about whether it will gather the necessary data or just organize and analyze the data when it appears.)

Meanwhile the planning board, which had just resumed holding weekly workshops on the growth policy, has canceled the meetings until further notice, given that it no longer has an active role in the process.

The board is basically in a holding pattern until the issue papers are completed, which is expected to take about three months.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com