A rocky finish to hearingof board of adjustment

One of the most contentious and acerbic public hearings in recent memory may have to be repeated because of a procedural error by the president of the Flathead County Board of Adjustment.

The hearing, which featured multiple accusations of lying, claims of board impropriety and allegations of "back-room shenanigans," took place on Tuesday night. It addressed a conditional use permit for a 320-acre gravel pit proposed in the West Valley, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road and Church Drive.

The hearing even started on an unusual note, with two of the five board members recusing themselves because of potential conflicts.

Then, after two hours of testimony - which included the charge that one of the three remaining board members had "already made up his mind" and shouldn't be voting - board president Dennis Rea unilaterally announced that he was tabling the issue for a month in order to consult with the county attorney.

"I'm going to take the opportunity to table this," Rea said. "If there's any question, it comes back to me, but I have the ability to do this. I want to make sure that any decision we make will stand."

It turns out, however, that the board's own rules state that all board actions require a motion and a vote.

Because that didn't happen, the hearing might have to be repeated. The planning office met with the county attorney's office on Thursday to discuss the matter. A decision on how to proceed was

not immediately available.

About 100 people attended the gravel pit hearing. Most were clearly opposed to the project.

"This is tearing the neighborhood apart," said Angela Clark, one of the 32 people who spoke against the permit. "It's a residential area. The county has been approving subdivisions out there. To now approve an industrial operation… Our quality of life is going to change."

The Board of Adjustment has final say on conditional-use permits. If it approves this request, sand and gravel extraction and processing would be allowed on the property, together with the operation of a crushing machine and asphalt batch plant, subject to certain conditions.

The applicant, the Tutvedt Family Partnership, would also need an open-cut mining permit from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

Schellinger Construction would run the pit, which would be developed in 40-acre sections, starting with the southwest corner along Farm to Market Road.

"There's a need for aggregate in the valley, and if you want aggregate, you need a place to get it," said Bruce Tutvedt. "There are no perfect places for a gravel pit in Flathead County, but this is about as good as you can find."

Al Schellinger said the size of the Tutvedt property, combined with the relatively low housing density in the area, made it ideal for a gravel pit.

"Four major projects in the valley - the [new] high school, Costco [relocation], the [North Valley] hospital and the [Kalispell City] airport - are going to take about 500,000 cubic yards of gravel," Schellinger said. "The Kalispell bypass could take millions of cubic yards. The public demands these pits; that's the only reason we're doing this."

A competitor of Schellinger's pointed out that gravel is used for concrete, road bases and other material needs of a growing community.

"If we continue to limit resource utilization, the entire community will end up paying for it," he said.

Opponents, however, cited multiple concerns, including water and air quality, traffic levels and pedestrian safety, and the impact on property values.

They also noted that the conditional use application offered few specifics regarding how and when any reclamation would take place, how high the earthen berms surrounding the pit would be, and what steps would be taken to protect the shallow Lost Creek aquifer.

"I have to go through more hoops to build a home on a quarter-acre lot than I see here for developing a 320-acre gravel pit," said Peter Fennelly. "There needs to be a serious impact study done on this."

Tammy Otten-Grahm was one of several people who said a more thorough evaluation of the water quality impacts should be done before approving a mine that would dig down towards the aquifer.

"The water is deadly in that aquifer" because of high nitrate levels, she said. "Can that gravel pit do anything to harm the aquifer any more? That needs to be looked at."

As things stand now, the board is scheduled to take action on the Tutvedt request at its next regular meeting on June 7. If a new hearing is required, though, it's unclear whether it would take place at that time or at a future date.

Public hearings are already scheduled for June 7 on three other gravel pit conditional-use permits. One would remove a condition on the Klempel pit near Bigfork, allowing it to resume operations; the second addresses LHC's plans to expand its existing mine on Stillwater Road from 116 to 139 acres; the third deals with another new pit in the West Valley.

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