Planning Board backs 3,000-acre Riverdale Neighborhood Plan

The Flathead County Planning Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend approval of the Riverdale Neighborhood Plan to county commissioners.

The plan changes land-use designations on approximately 3,000 acres of mostly agricultural land located west of U.S. 93 and between Clark Drive and the Flathead County Landfill.

Some 2,400 acres would be available for residential development, with the rest allocated to open space, parks, mixed use and a small portion for commercial development.

"We did a lot of tweaking to the plan," board member Mike Mower said. "When it's all said and done, it's a compromise, but I'm hopeful that when the Riverdale people look at what's going forward, it's 90-plus percent of what they wanted. The basic intent wasn't changed."

Much of the planning board's tweaking concerned commercial development to the north and south of the Majestic Valley Arena along U.S. 93. In the Economic Development section of the plan, the board voted to reduce neighborhood commercial areas from four acres to two acres and to remove a goal promoting commercial development along the corridor.

Board members also did not want business development to be a part of the planned unit development process.

Mower said that public comment was 100 percent against further commercial development along U.S. 93.

"I've read through the comments, and I didn't find anyone who was in favor of it," Mower said.

Board chairman Gene Dziza disagreed, saying that property along a highway is better suited for commercial development rather than residential.

"I don't know what makes this ground so sacred," Dziza said. "There's a race track. There's an arena. There's a dump. I don't see why commercial development is such a threat."

Some Riverdale-area residents, such as Bill Spurzem, said the board's decision to restrict the commercial language in the plan was incorrect.

"That whole area is going to be commercial anyway," Spurzem said. "I don't see anything wrong with the commercial that was asked for."

He also said that by restricting the language, Majestic Valley Arena's plan to build a hotel and restaurant could be hindered.

"They should be able to build a hotel and restaurant if they want to," Spurzem said. "That would take a lot of traffic off of Highway 93 by giving all those people a place to stay."

Spurzem, whose grandparents settled in the area in 1898, said that in spite of the commercial issue, he still supports the plan.

"We've got to make progress," he said. "We can't block ourselves into a corner and stop everyone from moving in. If people had told my grandparents that, I wouldn't have had the land."

Flathead County Planning and Zoning Director Jeff Harris said that his staff supported the plan.

"We feel it is a good step in the right direction," he said.

Riverdale residents have been working on the plan for several years because of the expected pressure to develop the area. The plan projects a possible increase of 7,000 residents during the next 25 years.

The plan proposes numerous land-use designations:

. 1,641 acres of residential suburban that allows one dwelling unit per 2.5 to 5 acres. The 2.5-acre designation currently does not exist in the Flathead County Zoning Regulations, but the plan included this smaller unit in anticipation of a new zoning district.

. 787 acres of residential that allows for one dwelling unit per acre.

. 12 acres of neighborhood commercial for low density retail and service commercial uses.

. 228 acres of mixed use, which would allow projects to be planned and processed as planned unit development overlays. Harris said that the Riverdale plan creates a good relationship between zoning and planned unit developments.

"PUDs force landowners to do more site-specific planning and allows for greater public input," Harris said. "We can then deal with site-specific issues at the time of the PUD."

. 240 acres already are designated as conservation easement land north of Church Drive.

. 56 acres of parks.

. 89 acres of landfill transition area to include light industrial development.

Harris said that as the area transitions out of agriculture, the land uses in the plan are appropriate.

"Overall, you're looking at densities that are primarily residential with one unit per one to three acres, which is relatively low," he said.

The Planning Board will adopt a resolution with recommendations to send to the commissioners. The county commissioners will then go through the draft before approving, adopting and incorporating the plan into the county's growth plan.

To review a draft of the Riverdale Neighborhood Plan, go to http://www.co.flathead.mt.us/fcpz/drafts.html.

Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com