Planners delay Meadow Lake decision

By NANCY KIMBALL

The Daily Inter Lake

A decision on Meadow Lake Northwest, one of the city's largest subdivision proposals since the 330-acre resort initially was planned in the early 1980s, was tabled at the end of a five-hour Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board meeting Tuesday night.

Citing a need to clear foggy heads after discussion of an agenda item stretched to 11:30 p.m. - and the benefit of taking time to digest comments and questions from a standing-room-only crowd at the public hearing for Meadow Lake Northwest - board members agreed to table their discussion until a special meeting June 26. It begins at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall.

Aspen-Columbia Falls is asking to build 182 single-family homes on about 87 acres at the northwest corner of Meadow Lake Resort. It would be the final phase of development envisioned in the 12-phase 1983 Meadow Lake Master Plan.

With three members missing and several sticking points in the plan, the board agreed to take more time with a decision. The June 26 meeting will focus solely on those points of concern: density of development, ingress and egress routes, traffic volume and patterns, and pedestrian travel.

Aspen-Columbia Falls, a subsidiary of The Aspen Group, an Arizona-based investment and real-estate-development company, seeks a zone change and preliminary plat approval. Aspen recently bought North Valley Hospital's 15-acre campus in Whitefish, where it plans a mixed-used condominium development.

The group came on board with Meadow Lake in fall 2005 when it bought 72 acres from Peter Tracy, who laid out Meadow Lake's 12-phase plan and has been developing what has now become 13 or 14 phases along with hotel, restaurant, bar, pro shop and 18-hole golf course. Aspen then met with the Meadow Lake Estates Homeowners Association to gauge concerns.

A prime issue was added traffic on Meadow Lake Drive, the north-south traffic artery from Tamarack Lane through Meadow Lake Estates. The bulk of Aspen's proposal is directly north of there, and Meadow Lake Drive would have been the only access for what traffic engineer Bob Abelin estimated would be an additional 1,000 to 1,500 vehicle trips a day.

Subsequently, project engineer Greg Stratton said, Aspen bought another 15 acres to the west from the Crosswhite family for more homes and a second access onto Tamarack Lane.

Stratton also said that Aspen, in part, lowered density from six units per acre to two units, reduced lot size to provide more open space and a buffer between subdivisions, added 2.5 miles of public hiking trails, promised to pave a path to access the golf course, agreed to upgrade infrastructure for services from Meadow Lake County Water and Sewer District, and designed drainage to divert storm runoff away from existing lots.

The existing portion of Meadow Lake Drive is from 20 to 22 feet wide, but Aspen proposes widening that to 24 feet by taking a foot or two off properties on each side of the road. Steepness of driveway access would be worsened with that move, opponents said.

Aspen's own proposed interior 24-foot roads without curbs, gutters or sidewalks are below city standards and cause concern among neighbors who think the graveled walking path will be insufficient.

Increased traffic on Meadow Lake Drive, they say, also would exacerbate the uphill driving problems in winter and the downhill speeding tendencies all year.

Board member Dave Renfrow said that off-street parking was required recently when Wildcat Estates along Talbott Road was allowed a 26-foot road, but no similar requirement is included with Meadow Lake Northwest.

Jenny Draband, newly seated at Tuesday night's meeting, questioned emergency-vehicle access.

City Manager Bill Shaw suggested no parking signs; planner Lisa Horowitz said the board needed to determine whether it wants an urban or rural "feel."

"It's not just a feel. It's also safety. The gravel path is fine in the summer, but what about the other 10 months?" board member Trent Miller asked, drawing a chuckle from the audience. "I see kids walking on a 24-foot-wide street. That's not safe."

Homeowners association president Dale Heldstab, saying that sidewalks are not provided in the new development but are recommended along the existing Meadow Lake Drive, said it is too steep there for sidewalks to be practical.

Overall, however, Heldstab conceded that the growth is inevitable and came out supporting the project.

Project architect Bruce Lutz cautioned against making streets so wide that they invite increased speeds, and adding curbs and gutters that would create runoff problem points.

Abelin's traffic study also came under fire. Conducted last October, his study showed about 300 to 500 trips daily on Meadow Lake Drive. Even with the added 1,000 to 1,500, he said it would be below a standard capacity of 3,000 that most two-lane roads can bear safely.

With the expected 50 percent drop in residents during winter, he said that count would drop accordingly.

"You did your traffic study in October?" Tamarack Lane resident Terry Conner asked. "That is a very low period. Kids are in school, there's not the recreational traffic. And you're saying this will comprise only 30 percent of the traffic [on Meadow Lake Boulevard], based on October, not July and August?"

Conner also questioned water drawdown caused by the new demand, reminding the gathering of 32 dry wells recorded in the area during the 1988 drought. Aspen's well, consultants explained, would tap into the 750-foot aquifer instead of the 250- to 300-foot aquifer most homes in the area tap.

Impacts on schools was a concern of one teacher who lives in Meadow Lake, who said it takes "years and years" to build new schools that will ease overcrowding brought on by more children in a development.

Meadow Lake Drive resident Larry Alexander said pedestrian safety was his primary concern.

"You guys have got to think this through a lot more," he said. "I'm not going to expose my granddaughter … and my wife to that."

John Horine, who lives at the top of the existing Meadow Lake Drive, argued for more green space on the north end, with buffers along the west side.

"I've raised five kids there for the past 20 years," Horine said. "We live in the country. There are bears, wild turkeys, raccoons. This is like putting a city subdivision out there. It's too dense."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com.