Planning Board postpones Riverdale decision

Panel delays action for at least two months, will hold second public hearing

The Flathead County Planning Board on Wednesday postponed action on the Riverdale Neighborhood Plan for at least two months.

The decision came at the end of a four-and-a-half hour public hearing that attracted a standing-room-only crowd.

If approved, the Riverdale plan would change the land-use designation from agricultural to mostly residential on 3,800 acres on the west side of U.S. 93, between Big Mountain Golf Club and the county landfill.

Forty-two people offered testimony during Wednesday's hearing.

Slightly more than half spoke in opposition. Several said they hadn't heard about the proposal until this week. Most also wanted more information about how the area might develop.

The Planning Board seemed to agree. After a brief discussion, it voted 4-3 to table the application for at least 60 days, giving it time to review all the material and the public additional time to comment.

Planning Director Jeff Harris said Thursday that the board will hold some work sessions to discuss the plan and then schedule a second public hearing.

This is the first time the Planning Board has taken such a step. Although it occasionally has continued its discussion for a week or a month - particularly with complex or controversial proposals - the board never has scheduled a second public hearing after the first hearing was closed.

Dates for the workshops and second hearing haven't been set.

Wednesday's meeting raised the same issues and conflicting values that come up whenever growth and change in the valley are debated.

Proponents said that several of the Riverdale applicants are longtime property owners who have cared for the land for decades and now need to prepare for a different future.

Rather than simply develop the area on a piecemeal basis, however, they joined together, invested a year's worth of time and money and came up with a proposal that includes provisions for open space, pedestrian trails and new road corridors, with an overall density of about one unit an acre.

"These aren't newcomers to the valley," said former Planning Board member Larry Linn/. "They deserve a little respect. If you need to take a week or a month to make a decision, that's understandable - but don't sweep this under the rug."

Hank Galpin, a farmer and one of the largest landowners in the Riverdale area, said the dismal nature of the agricultural industry necessitates a change in land uses.

"Agriculture is in transition," Galpin said. "We don't anticipate ever making a profit again. We're farming now for least loss. We're part of this plan because we have to prepare for that transition."

The most dignified speakers on Wednesday were Herb and Bonnie Koenig, an elderly couple who have farmed a portion of the Riverdale area for decades.

"I guess I'm one of the bad guys," Herb said. "I have land in Riverdale. We're just a group of landowners who got together and tried to plan our own destiny. We cooperated with the planning office, tried to put something together that would be compatible. I wish people could see our point of view."

Bonnie quietly informed the Planning Board that decisions need to be made about what to do with their land.

"This is the time," she said at the end of the hearing. "I respectfully ask that you not table this plan, but that you vote on it and vote to approve."

For their part, opponents cautioned that Riverdale represents an irrevocable change, a permanent step away from the Flathead's agricultural heritage, precious open space and gorgeous views.

Given what's at stake, they want the plan to be much more detailed, with clear restrictions on the type of commercial uses that would be allowed along U.S. 93, as well as layouts showing where the proposed bike trails and new roads would be.

"The lack of detail in this plan raises questions in the mind of the public about what they're going to get in the end," said Mayre Flowers, with Citizens for a Better Flathead. "We need more certainty about what's going to come with this scale of development."

For example, Riverdale proposes 320 acres of mixed-use commercial, primarily along the highway.

"That's larger than all of the commercial in Columbia Falls," Flowers said. "It's larger than all of the commercial in Whitefish, and it's close to the amount of commercial in Kalispell [excluding Evergreen]. The plan needs to have some more careful thought about how that commercial corridor will develop."

Jim Marino thought the proposal was "severely premature," because of the lack of infrastructure.

If the entire Riverdale area were built out to its maximum density, it would accommodate about 3,700 new homes, versus the 16 or so there now.

"I can't even fathom how much this would put the public in danger [because of the increased traffic]," Marino said. "How can we pass judgment today on such a colossal area as Riverdale without even doing a traffic study? I'm saying whoa - not no, but whoa. We need to look at this in more detail."

The amount of detail contained in plan amendments such as Riverdale is typically a sticking point with the public. People invariably want more information up front about what an area eventually will look like, yet the planning process - at least as it historically has been followed in Flathead County - doesn't require that level of detail until later on, during the zoning and subdivision stages.

Previous planning boards have accepted that approach. The current board, however, balked Wednesday - leaving the Riverdale applicants caught in the middle.

"These landowners have played by the book and done what was asked of them," said board member Gordon Cross. "Unfortunately, by the time the plan got to us, we're hopefully within a half-year of completing the [countywide] growth policy. It seems like bad timing, but I don't see how waiting another six months hurts them."

Several board members said Riverdale looked like a good plan, though some thought it needed to be tweaked.

Cross' motion to table the proposal was supported by Don Hines, Kathy Robertson and Kim Fleming. Board members Charles Lapp, Gene Dziza and Randy Toavs voted in opposition. Jeff Larsen recused himself on this item, and Frank deKort was absent.

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