Growth policy needs to get done

It wasn't too long ago we encouraged the county commissioners to bring a consultant on board to make sure a growth policy got put together before the statutory deadline of Oct. 1, 2006.

It seemed like a straightforward suggestion at the time. After all, one deadline had already come and gone with nary a bit of progress. It was too important to let that happen again because the Legislature is unlikely to extend the deadline again, and zoning changes would come to a standstill without the mandated plan being in place.

So we were happy to see the county hire Bill Collins and his Colorado consulting firm, Collins Planning Associates, to shepherd the policy to completion.

Two weeks ago, the commissioners voted to pay a fairly modest $58,000 fee to the consultants for their work in making sure that the job gets done right. The Collins group will mostly be advisory. Most of the work will be done by the Flathead County planning staff and the Long-Range Planning Task Force.

This seems like an ideal mix of professional and community input, and will probably result in the job getting done on time. First up will be a series of "issue papers" dealing with topics such as quality of life, community character, and natural resources. These papers will spell out options and alternatives, and then public hearings will be held to gauge community reaction.

Like we said, it seems straightforward.

But when it comes to planning and zoning issues, there is always a fly in the ointment, isn't there?

Last week a meeting was held by several groups who are concerned that local control of planning will be at risk because of the process chosen by the commissioners. They made Bill Collins out to be some kind of hired gun from Colorado and hinted that the new planning director from Nevada might be known as "The Las Vegas Kid." Then they worried about the long-range task force containing such people as the mayor of Kalispell, the director of county health and sanitation and the county road superintendent.

Pardon us if we are not duly frightened, but Mayor Kennedy is just not that scary.

A lot of the resentment being aired comes from the fact that the county planning board, and some former members of it, felt that the board had a statutory responsibility to shape the growth policy on its own. But face it, they've had years to get the job done, and it hasn't happened. For one thing, the volunteers on the planning board are already working long hours just keeping up with their current job. They don't realistically have time to spare to make sure the growth policy is done right.

So, rather than trying to throw a monkey wrench in the process, the people who are afraid of what will happen to their rights should take an active role to ensure that everything happens in a fair and above-board manner in the coming months. There will be plenty of opportunities to be heard, and we encourage both critics and friends of growth to take advantage of them.

Who's running the show? Same as always, it's the people - so if you are concerned about the future of our valley, then by all means get involved.