Board rejects permit for gravel mine

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead County Board of Adjustment overruled the county zoning administrator on Tuesday, invalidating a nine-year-old conditional-use permit for a West Valley gravel pit.

Unless the action is appealed to District Court, it means the owner of the pit will have to apply for a new conditional-use permit before resuming operations.

This was only the second time in the last several years that a zoning determination has been appealed to the Board of Adjustment. The previous instance also had to do with gravel pits.

Tuesday's case addressed a permit the county approved for a 15-acre gravel mine in 1997.

The project is located near the intersection of Farm to Market Road and Church Drive. Very little activity took place there until recently, when the property was sold to a new owner, Joe Beasley.

While trying to determine if the mine had the necessary permits, Beasley contacted the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which issued the original state mining permit. The state agency contacted Zoning Administrator Jeff Harris to make sure the project still complied with county zoning requirements.

Harris ruled that the 1997 permit was still valid - prompting an appeal by Flathead Citizens for Quality Growth, a West Valley group that's concerned about industrial gravel mines in the area.

The group cited multiple reasons why the original conditional-use permit should be invalidated, including discrepancies with the county zoning regulations.

The key issue for the Board of Adjustment, however, was that the original owner failed to upgrade an existing haul road to county standards as required by the 1997 permit.

There was some discussion whether the permit should automatically be invalidated or whether the new owner should be given an opportunity to upgrade the road and bring the project back into compliance.

Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to overrule Harris and invalidate the permit.

Also on Tuesday, the board unanimously approved:

. A conditional-use permit for a multifamily dwelling at 135 Bayside Drive in the Bigfork RA-1 zoning district.

. A zoning variance to reduce the 20-foot rear setback requirement to 5 feet for property at 1313 Holt Drive, in the Bigfork SAG-10 zoning district.

. A conditional-use permit for a multifamily dwelling at 104 Sunrise Terrace in the Bigfork RA-1 zoning district.