Meeting marked by sparks

Canyon-area residents discuss neighborhood plan

The Canyon-area community started the lengthy process of revising their neighborhood plan Tuesday night with a meeting that brought more than 60 residents to Canyon Elementary School.

Flathead County's Assistant Planning Director B.J. Grieve led the meeting with the hopes of dispelling rumors and organizing a committee to spearhead an effort to revise the Canyon's outdated plan.

Grieve was met with a great deal of skepticism and wariness from the Canyon residents.

A number of audience members fired questions at Grieve ranging from why their property taxes were on the rise to what the initials of his first name stood for.

At one point a man stood up and asked, "Who do you work for? And what are you selling?"

A number of times throughout the meeting Grieve had to remind the group that the meeting's purpose was to start the revision of the neighborhood plan. He encouraged the group to tell him how to proceed.

"I want to be led by you," Grieve said to the group. "And this is the first step."

The original Canyon Plan was drafted in 1994 and is currently not in compliance with the newly adopted county growth policy.

According to state law, a neighborhood plan must be cohesive with its guiding growth document.

Grieve spent a large portion of the meeting explaining what exactly a neighborhood plan is. He used analogies, comparing the Flathead County Growth Policy to the United States Constitution and neighborhood plans to state constitutions.

"The neighborhood plan is what a neighborhood wants to be when it goes up … how it wants to be in the future," Grieve said.

One of the biggest concerns voiced by the group was if the neighborhood plan included zoning or would force zoning on residents.

Grieve explained to the group that a neighborhood plan is only a guide for the future, but that zoning is one of many tools that could be used to implement that guide.

"I am not here to push zoning on you," Grieve said. "Zoning won't be an issue unless it's something you want."

Another major issue that evoked a number of comments was how and who would be appointed on the Canyon Plan Committee and be responsible for working with Grieve to update the plan. A number of residents requested that the proposed nine-member committee not only represent the populations of the different parts of the Canyon, but their demographics as well.

Ed Hynes of Hungry Horse said, "I feel that it is absolutely necessary that the committee be proportionally representative of the area."

Grieve said he will recommend that the Flathead County Planning Board appoint Canyon Plan Committee members in a proportional manor.

"But at the end of the day it's the planning board's decision to make," he said of the committee selection process.

Grieve said he felt the meeting was an overall success because many of the residents left the meeting with a better understanding of what was happening in their community.

Reporter Amy May may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at amay@dailyinterlake.com