Amended Bigfork plan nearing approval

Northwest Montana News Network

The Bigfork Neighborhood Plan finally is on its way, this time for real.

The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee agreed in principle on Monday to many of the changes suggested last month by the Flathead County Planning Board.

The committee is expected to approve the plan at its next meeting Jan. 29 and forward it to the Planning Board.

The unusual Monday night meeting was held because the Christmas holiday prevented the committee from meeting in December.

Among the changes that the land-use committee and the Bigfork Steering Committee agreed to implement was a paragraph of language suggested by Gordon Cross of the Planning Board that explicitly states the plan is non-regulatory and clarification in the section about sign regulations.

The Bigfork Neighborhood Plan was created in 1993 and has been undergoing a prolonged updating process since 2003. To be in compliance with the new Flathead County Growth Policy, neighborhood plans are to be updated every five years.

The committee also made a few changes to the future land use map at the suggestion of Assistant Planning Director BJ Grieve, who has worked with the group throughout the process. Those changes include slightly shrinking the amount of land designated for future commercial use north of Streeter's Corner.

Committee member Paul Guerrant said that having such large tracts designated as commercial could encourage big box stores, a possibility that was brought up by Grieve last month at the Planning Board workshop.

The committee will vote on the neighborhood plan - and accept public comment on the proposal for the last time at the local level - at 4 p.m. on Jan. 29 at Bethany Lutheran Church during its normal monthly meeting. The plan will go before the Planning Board on Feb. 11.

In other business at Monday night's meeting, the board recommended denial for a zone change application by Flathead Industries concerning the building that used to house the Flathead Industries Thrift Store on Grand Avenue behind the fire station.

Allison Mouch, the member of the planning office assigned to the proposal, recommended denial for the change from R-1 'residential lots on a minimum of 1 acre) to B-3 (a commercial designation) based on noncompliance with the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan and the current building's violation of B-3 setback requirements.

Mouch said that despite the fact that the surrounding properties were being operated as commercial businesses, they all were nonconforming uses, likely grandfathered into the system before zoning was put in place.

"We can't allow zoning to be swayed by current nonconforming uses," she said.

The thrift store can't be grandfathered in as some other sort of retail application because for that provision to work, the business can't be out of operation for more than 180 days, which the thrift store has been.

Committee member Al Johnson was visibly upset that the applicant couldn't operate a business at the location, despite being bordered on each side by businesses.

"The character of the neighborhood is the character of the neighborhood," he said. "It's another example of the planning staff not doing their job. They're supposed to help these people."

County planner Alex Hogle was on hand for a few technical questions, and took exception to Johnson's assertion, noting that in the applicant's pre-application meeting they were told B-3 was a nonconforming use and that the planning staff doesn't recommend approval for such uses.

"To hear you say that we don't [help] is fairly offensive," Hogle said.

Though the committee unanimously expressed sympathy for the applicant, members voted 7-0 to deny the application.

It will be heard before the Flathead County Planning Board on Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Earl Bennett Building in Kalispell.