County setback rules ready for final perusal

The Daily Inter Lake

It's reckoning time for the county's proposed streamside setbacks.

After holding two public hearings and receiving volumes of oral and written testimony on the controversial setbacks, the commissioners have set aside two hours, from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, to consider adopting the subdivision regulation amendments, including the streamside setbacks.

The public-comment period has ended.

The commissioners could vote on the amendments, but Commissioner Joe Brenneman said he hopes a final vote will be delayed until the commissioners have had ample time to consider all of the public testimony.

"We need to do this carefully," he said. "I'd hope we take more time to consider the areas" in which there has been a lot of public input.

The county adopted most of the new subdivision regulations in August 2007, but some of the proposed regulations were withheld because of their contentious nature.

Proposed setback widths will be measured from the high-water mark to the edge of the 100-year flood plain as shown on a Federal Emergency Management Agency map or:

. The Flathead River and its three forks, the Stillwater River, the Whitefish River and the Swan River would have 250-foot setbacks with 100-foot vegetative buffers.

. Ashley Creek (from Smith Lake to the Flathead River) and the Fisher River would have 200-foot setbacks with 75-foot vegetative buffers.

. All other streams would have 60-foot setbacks with 50-foot vegetative buffers.

The Planning Board's justification for the setbacks is written into the regulations and states that "the maintenance and integrity of natural river systems is crucial to the quality and quantity of water resources in Flathead County."

Public comments have been divided between those who see the setbacks as an encroachment on personal property rights and a taking by the county, and those who support the setbacks to protect water quality.

The commissioners' discussion begins at 10 a.m. Monday in the building just west of the main courthouse in Kalispell.

While no public comments will be taken at that meeting, citizens may speak earlier in the morning at 8:45 a.m. during the commissioners' daily public-comment portion of their day.