Board considers KM Ranch Road zone changes

The Daily Inter Lake

Two zone changes that would allow higher-density development on more than 360 acres across from the Happy Valley subdivision top the Flathead County Planning Board's agenda tonight.

One proposal would convert 183 acres from large-lot, AG-20 and AG-40 agricultural zoning to SAG-5 suburban agricultural. The existing zoning has minimum lot sizes of 20 and 40 acres, compared to 5 acres for SAG-5.

The second proposal would convert 185 acres from SAG-10 to SAG-5.

Both projects are located along U.S. 93 immediately north of KM Ranch Road.

The Sept. 11 legal advertisement that announced the agenda for this planning board meeting contained incorrect acreage for both of these zone changes. The ad said the first proposal covered 55 acres, and that the second one covered 152 acres.

The planning staff reports for the projects indicate that the zone changes are being requested "to allow the development of 5-acre lots across from the Happy Valley subdivision."

However, both applications suggest that the sites are suitable for cluster subdivisions.

Flathead County's zoning regulations allow cluster subdivisions a 50-percent density bonus compared to what would normally be allowed by the underlying zoning, in exchange for a temporary preservation of open space.

Lots created in this way can also be at most two acres in size.

(At least two lawsuits are challenging the temporary nature of the open space requirement. They want the open space to be set aside permanently.)

If these zone changes are approved, and if cluster subdivisions are proposed on the entire 368 acres, as many as 110 lots could be built - compared to about three dozen under the existing zoning and 73 with 5-acre lots.

Other items on tonight's agenda include:

-A zone change from AG-80 agricultural to SAG-5 suburban agricultural for 16 acres north of Three Mile Drive and west of Stillwater Road.

-The preliminary plat of Cricket Place, a six-lot single-family subdivision on 20 acres located off Foothill Road west of Rockwood Estates.

-The preliminary plat of Bald Rock, a four-lot single-family subdivision on 20 acres located at 275 Bald Rock Road, 10 miles northwest of Kalispell.

-The preliminary plat of the amended plat of Lots 2 and 3 in the Golden Meadow Estates subdivision, which would create four single-family lots on 20 acres located at 4630 and 4650 Farm to Market Road.

The planning board meets in the second-floor conference room at the Earl Bennett Building in Kalispell, beginning at 6 p.m.