Into the breach

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

Growth policy now in hands of Planning Board members

The Daily Inter Lake

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Garrison Keilor's traditional sign-off for "The Writer's Almanac" radio program pretty much summarizes the public sentiments offered Wednesday to the Flathead County Planning Board, during what could be the last formal hearing on the county's proposed growth policy.

About 60 people attended the 90-minute meeting. Half of them spoke, with several wishing the board well as it begins its review of the initial draft.

"What we're doing here [with the growth policy] is the key to our future. I hope you guys come through. It's an important job. Best of luck to you," said Linda Christensen.

The intent of Wednesday's meeting was to address the long list of additions, revisions and deletions that the county planning staff had suggested for the policy, based on earlier public comment.

Most speakers, however, simply offered a few final thoughts on the growth policy as a whole.

"Everyone in the valley will benefit from the strongest possible protection for our natural resources," Christensen said. "If we aren't going to build protection into this policy, then who's going to pay for the damage to Flathead Lake and damage to water quality when subdivision developments go wrong? I think we need to firm this up and put some teeth into it."

Several farmers spoke during the hearing, saying the growth policy should protect their ability to manage their land and sell off pieces as needed, so they can continue to farm.

"If we can sell off small portions for fantastic prices, then oddly enough, we'll keep farming the rest of it until we use that income up," said Paul Tutvedt.

Bruce Tutvedt said he and other farmers would oppose the policy until the board provided maps that show what land-uses would be allowed in various areas.

"Without the maps, we have no way of knowing how our lands will be affected by this document," he said. "It has to have the maps, and farmers need to be in the room when the maps are drawn."

BJ Carlson said the policy needs to clarify how much commercial, agricultural or residential land is available throughout the valley right now.

"Without knowing what we have, how in heaven's name are we going to be able to plan?" she asked.

Although numerous written and verbal comments during the past two months have been critical of the draft growth policy, Barry Conger suggested that the draft was a miraculous accomplishment, given that the Planning Office had less than a year to produce the document, with a minimal budget and no reduction in the number of subdivision and zoning applications they had to deal with at the same time.

"We should be surprised and awed that the staff was able to create a document as good as this," Conger said. "Certainly, it was unlikely, if not impossible, that they could do what really needed to be done."

That said, Conger thought it was too soon to adopt the policy as the guiding vision for the county, because it didn't provide the clear goals and policies that the Planning Board could use to evaluate development proposals.

Conger and others also chastised the commissioners for the apparent lack of financial support for the growth-policy process.

"There's no funding and no dedicated staff. How can the community be expected to support this policy when the county leadership doesn't seem to?" he wondered.

Trying to find an appropriate balance between long-term planning and protecting property rights continued to be a concern as well.

"If anyone deserves incentives [for development], it's the large landowners, the farmers and timberland owners," said George Everett. "They've been here since the beginning. We can't just take away their rights. We have to allow them to develop their property."

After everyone had their say, the Planning Board immediately adjourned the meeting. It will now hold at least three work sessions to discuss the draft and the proposed changes. However, most people at the hearing recognized that finding a reasonable compromise that satisfied most residents of the Flathead could be a daunting challenge.

The first work session took place Thursday night. The next two begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett Building.

The board is currently scheduled to take action on the growth policy at a special meeting Sept. 19. However, it could decide that it needs more time to review the document, or it could request additional information from the Planning Office.