North Shore Ranch plan runs into opposition
Decision delayed until next week
The Flathead County Planning Board held a marathon session Wednesday night to discuss the controversial North Shore Ranch development.
After lengthy testimony, the Planning Board voted to continue the meeting to April 2 at 6 p.m.
The delay will give the board time to wade through the 172 written public comments as well as process information from Wednesday's meeting.
The subdivision calls for 290 lots on 364 acres, with each lot bordering some type of open space.
Half of the 364 acres in the project would be open space. North Shore Ranch is designed to create a rural atmosphere, with more than 14 miles of horse and walking paths. The developers also have pledged about $300,000 to nearby schools.
Public comment Wednesday night was mostly against the project.
In addition to "not-in-my-backyard" arguments and warnings about greedy developers, there was a question over flood easements that left many in the room scrambling for an answer.
Mayre Flowers, executive director of Citizens For a Better Flathead, said that easements dating back to 1938 and 1941 give PPL Montana - current operators of Kerr Dam - the right to flood the property on which the North Shore Ranch is proposed.
Flowers said that she doesn't think Flathead County has the authority to approve a subdivision on land with such an easement.
Developer Sean Averill said that those easements exist on all property that rings Flathead Lake, and they don't prevent people from building on those properties.
The easements also exist on properties along the Flathead River that are affected by the regulation of lake levels.
District Judge Ted Lympus ruled last April that the power company has the right to damage property to accomplish its energy output. Numerous property owners on the Flathead River sued over excessive bank erosion they said was caused by raising and lowering lake levels each year.
Although Flowers contends that the easement question is a major issue, the likelihood of a purposeful flood that could wipe out the North Shore Ranch is slim. Most of the development would be located one to five feet above the base flood elevation height determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
For a flooding event to impact the North Shore Ranch, located more than 2,000 feet from Flathead Lake, the power company would have to flood the entire north shore, which would also put major developments such as Eagle Bend under water.
According to the county's staff report, Kerr Dam also is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The license does not allow the power company to raise lake levels above the full-pool mark of 2,893 feet. There are no exception statements in the license, which dates back to 1985.
Two naturally occurring events, one in 1948 and one in 1972, did flood to a sufficient height that if repeated would inundate a portion of the proposed subdivision.
The county's legal ability to grant a subdivision on property with a flood easement remains unclear.
The applicants used the last two hours of the five-hour meeting to rebut public and agency comment.
"I'm glad we were prepared for everything that came up," Averill said.
Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com