Getting to 'yes' in Wolford saga

Seven years ago, the words "largest mall in Montana" became affixed to proposals for the Glacier Mall project.

In its early versions, it was to be a massive enclosed shopping mall that would vastly expand shopping opportunities in the Flathead Valley.

But in the ensuing years, the mall proposal changed locations, switched governing jurisdictions and was part of a series of court challenges. And along the way, a separate million-plus square feet of retail space was built or is being built at the north end of Kalispell.

Now, what was known as Glacier Mall is essentially history, replaced by something called a "lifestyle center" that may replicate the shopping of the original proposal without the roof.

And along with the new look for a 481-acre parcel just north of Kalispell, the legal questions that have surrounded the development plan may be resolved.

An agreement reached last week between the developer, a concerned citizens group and Flathead County may remove the final legal obstacle to Bucky Wolford's plans.

Under this deal, Wolford will radically redesign the project, the county will work to get more public involvement in land-use decisions, and North 93 Neighbors will settle its legal action.

This deal doesn't mean that bulldozers are instantly going to work to reshape that 481 acres into the mixture of commercial, residential and park areas envisioned in the new Glacier Town Center. The project still requires annexation into Kalispell and must meet other planning prerequisites.

If these other hurdles are surmounted, work might begin late this summer on the multimillion-dollar development.

But the three-way agreement is a major step forward in resolving years of stalemates and legal wrangling.

In the end, it appears that simple civil discourse was the key to resolving the Glacier Mall standoff. When the parties involved sat down - outside a courtroom and without the protection of legal briefs and court motions - they found a way to compromise. And as in most compromises, there were trade-offs: Wolford will be able to build less than he initially planned; North 93 Neighbors acceded to more than they initially were willing to consider.

It would appear that both the developer and the citizens group came to the realization that the other side wasn't going to go away, so they opted to find a middle ground.

The end result for the Flathead Valley may be a better development and, perhaps, a precedent to pursue when the next big land-development debate arises.