Growth policy up against tight deadlines

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

Initial draft expected by the end of June

The Daily Inter Lake

Flathead County planning officials say the initial draft of the updated county growth policy should be released by the end of June.

However, it's unclear if that leaves adequate time for public review, given the looming Oct. 1 deadline for adoption.

Work on the update started with a series of public meetings late last year. However, the actual writing of the document didn't begin until early spring.

The update will replace an almost-20-year-old growth policy. It will serve as the county's fundamental planning document, providing the basis for zoning and subdivision regulations and outlining the goals and policies to which future developments must conform.

A preliminary schedule for reviewing and adopting the growth policy was unveiled at the end of Wednesday's Flathead County Planning Board meeting.

Once the initial draft is released, the planning office will hold a series of open houses around the valley, handing out copies of the update, giving presentations and taking comments.

That will happen in July.

Also in July, the planning board will hold a series of workshops so it can review and comment on the draft. The workshops will be open to the public, but they won't be formal hearings. Consequently, it's up to the board to decide whether public comment will be accepted or not.

Based on comments received from the public and from the planning board, the draft update would then be revised.

The planning board would hold one or two formal public hearings on the revised draft in August. By the end of August, it would vote on the update, recommending that the commissioners either accept, amend or reject the document.

The board will holding its regular weekly meetings all throughout this period as well, to review subdivision and zoning applications, and there may be additional workshops and meetings related to the Riverdale Neighborhood Plan.

The reason for this aggressive review schedule is that the growth policy has to be adopted by Oct. 1. That means it needs to be to the commissioners by Sept. 1 so they can approve a resolution of intent; that would typically be followed by a 30-day written comment period, after which the final resolution could be approved.

If the update isn't in place by Oct. 1, the county won't be able to make any more zone changes; it also wouldn't be able to adopt new neighborhood plans or change the existing growth policy.

Nevertheless, several planning board members say they're more focused on producing a reasonable document than meeting the deadline.

"I'd rather it be done correctly and properly than rush it," said Kathy Robertson. "I hope it gets done [by Oct. 1], but realistically I don't see how that can happen."

The proposed schedule basically gives the planning board - and the public - 60 days to read, review and modify the initial draft, with a final version due at the end of that process.

Moreover, the draft itself will be a moving target throughout July, with the planning office making changes on the fly in response to the comments it receives.

The "final" draft that's provided for the August public hearing could then be amended by the planning board, after which the commissioners could change whatever version makes it to them - meaning the public may never have the opportunity to comment on the specific, "final-final" version before it gets adopted.

"I think that's a dangerous way to go," planning board member Charles Lapp said. "We've been telling the public that they'll be involved and that it's going to be a growth policy they create, but that won't necessarily be the case."

Lapp said if everything falls neatly into place, it might be possible to meet the Oct. 1 deadline, but he felt that was optimistic.

"Realistically, I don't think we have enough time," he said. "It isn't anyone's fault, but this is where we should have been six months ago."

At various times over the last 18 months, both the planning board and the commissioners have discussed the possibility of placing a moratorium on certain planning applications so the county's overburdened planning staff would have more time to work on the growth policy.

Those discussions ended abruptly after a public hearing last July, when almost no one showed up to support the idea.

Even if a moratorium had been approved, though, it probably wouldn't have freed up much staff time. It was specifically intended for new growth policy amendments, and no new amendments have come in since July.

Ironically, one of the last amendments to be submitted - the 3,800-acre Riverdale Plan - was recently bumped back to the planning board for further review, adding even more to its workload.

The commissioners made that decision last week. Commissioner Gary Hall subsequently sent the board a letter, blasting it for not taking the time to fix the proposal.

That letter may influence the board's consideration of the growth policy: If they're being chastised for not fixing a private development plan, they'll certainly want to avoid forwarding an imperfect growth policy, regardless of what that does to the deadline.

"I think if we're going to meet the Oct. 1 deadline, we're going to have to have a lot of extra meetings," said planning board member Gene Dziza. "I think we can do it, but not with our regular schedule.

"The problem is, our workload and the planning office's workload is such, you worry about quality suffering. Something has to give, but it can't be the growth policy - and if we don't meet the deadline, that doesn't really bother me. My biggest concern is making sure the public has enough time to review it."

Planning board chairman Jeff Larsen echoed those concerns, saying his biggest issue with the review schedule is that it give people enough time to participate in the process.

"We can't fool ourselves into thinking this won't be hugely contentious," Larsen said. "We need to give the public time to read it, digest it and comment on it. This update is the most important thing we've worked on in the last 10 years. If I have to choose between meeting a drop-dead date and doing the job right, I choose doing it right."

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