Mall hearing scheduled Friday

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

The Daily Inter Lake

District Court Judge Kitty Curtis will hear from attorneys in the Glacier Mall lawsuit Friday.

This is the first time oral arguments will actually be provided on the mall, despite the three lawsuits and reams of legal material that have been filed during the past five years in efforts to block the project or move it forward.

Four previous court rulings - all of which favored Flathead County and developer Bucky Wolford - were based primarily on written arguments.

The mall's legal wranglings won't end Friday, though. This hearing just sets the ground rules for a subsequent hearing, currently scheduled in February, that will address the last legal concern related to the project.

Both hearings come in response to a Montana Supreme Court ruling this summer in a lawsuit filed by North 93 Neighbors.

The group faulted the county for its approval of a 2003 master plan amendment and zone change, which allowed Wolford to pursue retail/commercial and mixed-use office/residential uses on 481 acres northeast of the intersection of U.S. 93 and West Reserve Drive.

The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed most of North 93's arguments.

However, it agreed that the commissioners failed to demonstrate that they adequately considered all the issues raised during the public comment period. Consequently, that limited portion of the lawsuit was remanded to District Court for further review.

Friday's hearing will determine how the county should go about demonstrating whether all the concerns raised in almost 4,400 letters and e-mail comments were considered prior to the commissioners making a decision.

For example, attorneys for the various parties disagree whether the commissioners should be able to testify at all, or what they can talk about if they do testify.

Friday's hearing starts at 9 a.m. in Judge Curtis' courtroom.

After listening to oral arguments, she will decide how the February hearing should proceed.

That hearing will actually address the remand issue.

Despite the nearly six-year delay since he first proposed building a shopping mall in Flathead County, Wolford has indicated that he's still committed to the project and still thinks there's a market opportunity here.

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