Council delays decision on Twin Peaks Farms
A Columbia Falls rezoning request from Twin Peaks Farms was put on hold Monday night.
"We've gotten an incredible amount of information here," city council member Doug Karper said as he moved to table discussion until the council's June 19 meeting.
The council has until June 28 to act on the rezoning or it will be approved by default.
"This is a huge decision," Karper said. "It will set the tone for everything else that goes on out there."
His successful motion followed nearly four hours of public hearing and council discussion on issues of high groundwater, impacts on the wildlife corridor, traffic safety, neighborhood design and how the city wants to foster its "Gateway to Glacier" status.
Ron Mayhew, a developer from Eagle, Idaho, is asking only to rezone the suburban agricultural land for urban density.
He has produced no development plans, but said Monday night that he would see what the market demands, then probably build single-family homes and condominiums.
Mayhew wants to rezone 10 acres of high-groundwater suburban agricultural land west of Big Sky Water Park and east of the U.S. 2 bridge over the Flathead River. He is seeking CR-3 zoning, which would allow 32 lots.
Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board members voted 3-2 on April 11 to recommend approval of the rezone.
Mayhew told Monday's standing-room-only crowd that he and his business partner, Idaho landscaper Jeff Smith, visited this area, then bought a ranch for their second homes along U.S. 2 just north of Big Sky Water Park a year ago. When the nearby parcel came up for sale, Mayhew bought it.
"We hope to preserve what nature left us," he said, promising to deliver development between Columbia Falls and Columbia Heights that would include a lush, green buffer between the highway and the development. "East of the Flathead [River] needs a facelift."
He and Smith presented an extensive slide show of upscale, gated communities they have developed in Idaho.
It demonstrated the large-scale rock and water features that Smith specializes in, and the visual screen set up by trees and other vegetation. They said the features provide wildlife habitat that encourage healthy population growth among birds and small mammals.
"If you're not shooting at the animals, they're real comfortable around people," Smith said in answer to a question about how elk, deer and other large animals could be expected to use the development as a wildlife corridor.
A prime concern for neighbors is protecting a travel corridor for the many species they frequently spot on their land east of the river.
Mayhew produced a geotechnical study from CMG Engineering reporting that soils there generally are suitable for construction.
He also submitted a report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers saying the southern portion of the land is outside its jurisdiction because the waters there have no "hydrologic surface connection to the Flathead River or any other waters of the U.S." However, the Corps has jurisdiction over wetlands in the northwest corner of the property.
Mayhew also presented information claiming that the 1964 Flathead River flood, in which his land was under water, is classified a 5,000-year flood.
That was hotly disputed by speakers who called 1964 a 500-year flood.
A 500-year flood means that there is a one-in-500 chance that a flood of that magnitude will happen in any given year. The 1964 flood exceeded those statistics but is referred to as "a flood of record."
Trap Road resident Brian Peck called one-in-500 "incredibly good odds," and asked the council to consider the ramifications.
"You are asking to put your fellow citizens in danger so Mr. Mayhew can develop his property," Peck said.
Olaf Ervin, a local land surveyor hired by Mayhew, said "all agencies" exclude the parcel from the 100-year flood plain, "which is the only one that matters for development."
But the big unknown was voiced by planning board member and Columbia Falls resident Dave Renfrow.
"What I see is visionary from these guys," he said. "So was the plan from James Talbott," the city's founder, who held dreams of trails and other amenities to make the city a desirable place to live.
"But that's all gone. What happened?" he asked.
Through heated comments, both pro and con, the theme emerged that Mayhew's project needed more study.
"I've heard out-of-state people tonight share with you their vision for our city," one Columbia Falls resident said. "My vision is for a city manager and a city council to have the backbone to say no to a bad project."
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com