Mitigate the pits; don't ban them

If you lived in a nice quiet neighborhood, would you want a gravel pit as a neighbor?

Maybe not.

But if you owned a nice piece of land that could produce quality gravel and it was in an area where gravel pits were an accepted conditional use, would you want to let neighbors stop you from opening your business?

Probably not.

And there you have the dilemma.

For throughout the Flathead Valley, and we dare say in many other communities, neighborhoods are trying to decide whether gravel pits make good neighbors.

But landowners are also trying to decide if their neighbors understand good business.

Most recently, the issue has arisen in the West Valley, where several pits have been on the agenda of the Board of Adjustment, which decides on conditional-use permits within the county.

Two of those permits were approved Tuesday night. One allowed LHC to expand an existing 116-acre pit by 23 acres. Another allowed a 10-acre pit to be operated within certain limitations.

A decision on the most contentious proposal, however, was postponed until this Tuesday. The Tutvedt Family Partnership proposal for a gravel pit operation at the intersection of Church Road and Farm to Market Road is the biggest of the three - at 320 acres - and it also includes plans for an asphalt plant.

Opponents have complained such a large gravel operation will change the character of the neighborhood, but that is of course true of any neighborhood. A mine or gravel pit is unlike any other surface use we can think of.

But gravel pits also serve a valuable function in the community, providing vital building material for construction and roads. They are also, as noted, an appropriate conditional use in the West Valley. In fact, if we are going to have gravel pits anywhere, it seems reasonable to allow them in just such rural locations.

Does that mean neighbors' concerns should be ignored?

Not at all. It is certainly reasonable for residents to have an expectation of safety on their roads, quiet times to enjoy the splendor of rural living, and adequate visual and noise buffers.

That indeed is what the conditional-use process is all about. It establishes that certain kinds of uses of property are allowed as long as certain conditions are followed. In this case, it seems reasonable for neighbors to ask for limited hours of operation, perhaps even a restriction on weekend use, and to ask for other conditions that will limit the impact of the gravel pit operation on day-to-day life in the neighborhood.

But it is probably not reasonable to say, "No gravel pits, no way."