Second hearing planned

County invites comment on subdivision rules

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead County commissioners will hold a second public hearing on the draft subdivision regulations, hoping to craft a set of interim regulations that will serve until several of the more controversial issues are resolved.

Commissioners Joe Brenneman and Dale Lauman agreed to schedule the second hearing in May. Until then, they will continue to accept written comments on the proposed regulations.

The initial draft was released in February. It later was revised, based on comments received during and before the first public hearing in March.

The commissioners approved additional changes to the draft last week - the biggest of which was to pull out several controversial sections, sending them to the Flathead County Planning Board for additional public review.

The current version, labeled the "draft interim subdivision regulations," is available on the Flathead County Planning Office Web site, at www.co.flathead.mt.us/fcpz/index.html

The commissioners scheduled the second public hearing to give people an opportunity to say whether the interim regulations are adequate as proposed, or whether they need more tweaking. Depending on the response, they could adopt the interim version a week after the hearing.

Sections that have been pulled out and sent to the Planning Board include:

. 4.2.21, about cluster provisions in minor subdivisions (the main issue being how much open space should be preserved)

. 4.4.30, about cluster provisions in major subdivisions

. 4.7.7n, about remainder lots

. 4.7.13, about stream riparian setbacks

. 4.7.17b, about secondary road access requirements in high fire hazard areas.

Several other sections would remain in the interim regulations, but would be referred to the Planning Board for additional review and modification. These include 4.7.10 flood-plain provisions; 4.7.15 dust control; 4.7.18 road standards; and 4.7.19 road improvements.

As of Tuesday evening, the time, date and location of the May hearing hadn't been set.