'Beyond neutral'

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE

The Daily Inter Lake

Developers hope to have positive impact on Lakeside

When the first phase of the Eagle's Crest subdivision was approved four years ago, it had 15 lots on 172 acres.

They were big lots, mostly out of view, located in the hills south of Lakeside and west of U.S. 93, on land previously owned by Plum Creek Timber Co.

The main entrance is easy to see, with its big rock slabs and an eagle sculpture, and the pair of open gates. The subdivision road climbs through stands of neatly cleared timber, winding over and around rock outcrops. There are spectacular views of Flathead Lake and the Flathead Valley, of the Mission Mountains and Swan Range. On a clear day you can see what it means to be an eagle, with the world laid out below you.

Phases 2 and 3 quickly followed. They added 70 lots on 381 acres, most of which have already been sold. The Flathead County Planning Board just recently recommended approval of Phase 4, which features another 115 lots on 393 acres.

The project doesn't end there, though.

Last month, the Flathead County Planning Office received an application for the final five phases of Eagle's Crest. If approved, they'll add another 825 residential lots on 1,369 acres - together with 69 mixed-use commercial lots, miles of pedestrian and riding trails, and an 18-hole golf course. There's also a private airfield with a 3,400-foot paved runway.

With all phases combined, the subdivision could have as many as 1,025 residential lots - about 75 more than were counted in the entire Lakeside area during the 2000 census.

The project is expected to be built out over the next 30 years or so. All of the newer lots will be connected to public water and sewer services. (The developers are paying $80,000 just to reserve capacity from the Lakeside sewer district.) There will also be a paved, privately maintained road system, fire protection measures such as hydrants, and more than 530 acres of open space, including the golf course.

"When my partners and I decided this was where we wanted to live, we started thinking about what kind of community we'd want. If you could develop it the way you want, how would you do it? That's been the basis for all our decision-making," said Trevor Schaefer, president of Montana Eagle Development, which is building Eagle's Crest.

Schaefer and his partners became friends while attending the U.S. Air Force Academy in the late 1980s. After graduating in 1990, he served in the Air Force and Air National Guard for about 15 years as a fighter pilot, flying F-15 jets. He later flew Boeing 747s for United Airlines for a few years.

His partners are still on active duty, but Schaefer and his family moved to Lakeside in 2002.

"My stepfather came here in 1992 and told me I had to get up here," Schaefer recalled. "I bought my first piece of property that year."

At the time, he wasn't considering the commercial possibilities of the valley; he simply thought it was a great place to live. As he got closer to retiring, however, he started thinking about getting into real estate development. Everything came together when he saw the Eagle's Crest property.

"I was in a boat on Flathead Lake, looked up the hill and saw this place and said, 'That's the spot,'" Schaefer said. "We found out who owned it and made an unsolicited offer."

The subdivision hasn't generated much public comment to date. The initial phases attracted very little attention, and no one even showed up for the public hearing on Phase 4.

Phases 5-9 are currently scheduled to go to the planning board in May.

The subdued reaction may have something to do with the nature and location of the project.

Most of the lots, for example, are expected to be used for vacation or second homes, so there shouldn't be a major influx of school children.

The subdivision covenants prohibit building homes on ridgetops and require the use of natural colors and material, to help structures blend into the landscape. Any lot owner who wants to use the airfield will have to be personally certified by Schaefer or his partners and follow strict flight protocols. Finally, the subdivision traffic feeds directly onto a federal highway, without passing through any adjacent neighborhoods.

The commercial lots are intended to further mitigate potential traffic impacts. According to the subdivision application, "the neighborhood commercial services will be geared towards the future residents, in an effort to reduce the number of vehicle trips necessary to provide for daily needs."

The types of uses mentioned in the application include coffee shops and bakeries, restaurants, business services and day-care providers.

"We want to more than address any impacts from the subdivision," Schaefer said. "We want to go beyond neutral. We're going to live here and our children will live here, so we want to be positive members of the community."

The only notable strain on Montana Eagle Development's relationship with the Lakeside community came three years ago, when it proposed renovating and expanding a dilapidated marina on the north end of town.

The 50-year-old facility had a couple of rundown buildings and 86 boat slips, although only 56 were still usable. Schaefer and his partners wanted to upgrade the old buildings, construct a new office building and add at least 100 new slips - making it the largest marina on Flathead Lake.

To complete the project, the company requested more than two dozen variances to the county's lakeshore protection regulations - including one that would allow the dock to be extended several hundred feet into the lake.

There was widespread support for the renovation, but substantial opposition as well, particularly to expanding the docks. A number of people spoke against that portion of the proposal during the various public hearings; it also prompted a lawsuit against Flathead County after the commissioners approved the project.

The lawsuit remains active. Schaefer said all sides "have been working hard to come to a meaningful compromise," and that he hopes a settlement is near.

How to avoid such disputes is a dilemma in unincorporated villages such as Lakeside, which lacks a consistent voice or unified organization to clarify the community's vision for the future.

"I don't know if there's a cohesive agreement on what Lakeside wants," said Brett Kulina, a local developer and former Lakeside Community Council member. "For some people, this is their annual vacation home, so the smaller and quainter it is, the better. For others, it's a place for their multimillion-dollar project. But without the status of an incorporated city, there's no one with the authority to carry a cohesive vision forward. That happens one development at the time, and the community's input is entirely reactionary, either for a project or against it."

Current council member and past president Dave Reynolds said he'd like to see developers and the community work together from the beginning to accomplish their mutual goals.

"I think the community needs to sit down with developers from the start and say, 'This is what we want to see,' as opposed to 'We don't want you here,'" he said.

Lakeside and Montana Eagle Development may have an opportunity to test that approach in the future. Besides Eagle's Crest and the marina, Schaefer said the company plans more commercial development in the village area, together with a possible second subdivision.

The company owns 120 acres on the north side of Lakeside, he said, and is considering a more-affordable project for that site. He indicated it could have up to 600 lots, although nothing has been submitted or discussed with the county planning office so far.

"We've hired a professional marketing firm and we'll be rebranding the whole [Eagle's Crest] development, with Lakeside having a more prominent role," Schaefer said. "We'll really be marketing the town. We feel like we can have a tremendous impact here, as long as what we're doing is in lock-step with what the community wants. That's why we're working with the community council. It's not about what we can do - it's about what's right, what people want."

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