Subdivision in Marion heads to county commissioners
By JOHN STANG/Daily Inter Lake
A proposed subdivision on almost 800 acres of Plum Creek land should receive a preliminary plat, the Flathead County Planning Board unanimously recommended Wednesday.
The proposal to create the 70-lot Haskell's Pass subdivision northwest of Marion next to Little Bitterroot Lake - with lots ranging from 3 acres to just under 102 acres - will go to the Flathead County Commissioners.
Township 110 Land Co., a taxable real estate investment trust subsidiary of Plum Creek Timber Co., owns the site. It wants to put in roads and other development features, hoping to be selling lots within two years. Buyers then would build their own homes.
A similar 72-lot Plum Creek project stalled and then was withdrawn in 2006 when neighbors filed a lawsuit against it over environmental concerns.
On Wednesday, neighbors, the Little Bitterroot Lake Land Use Advisory Committee and the county planning staff supported the revised project. No one opposed it.
Neighbors and fire officials had some concerns, but not major objections.
They wanted to make sure that Herrig Creek - which goes through the site - was protected as much as possible.
And they voiced concern that the Marion Fire District and Township 110 still are negotiating the fire district annexing the site.
Lincoln Chute, Flathead County's fire service district manager, said work still needs to be done to ensure a pond or water tanker is at the site to provide water for firefighting.
And he pushed to have the fire defense zones around each house expanded from 100 feet to 300 feet - a suggestion that the board did not act on.
Township 110 Land Co. proposes one looped access road off Pleasant Valley Road to reach several cul-de-sacs off that loop to serve 70 home sites spread across 798 acres of forested creek bottom and steep land with rocky cliffs.
There's also an 11-acre community park and two more acres in scattered locations, plus hiking and biking trails.
Public access to the trails depends on whether the county accepts the deed to some land along Pleasant Valley Road and Bonneville Power transmission lines that would connect with a public trail system along a railroad easement to the northeast.
Developers propose on-site individual wells and septic systems, a central solid waste pickup site, 100-foot native growth protection easements, a 150-foot setback from Herrig Creek and other homeowner covenants that establish higher standards than county minimums.