New subdivision regs prompt paving questions
New subdivision rules that impose minimum design and construction standards could affect the amount of county road paving that developers are willing to pay for in new subdivisions.
That was the consensus of longtime Kalispell surveyor Tom Sands, who along with Eric Mulcahy, a consultant for Sands, met with the county commissioners last week over a question about paving on Rogers Lake Road in conjunction with the Canyon Creek Ranch subdivision.
At issue is the interpretation of subdivision regulations that require paving of county roads based on a formula that calculates how much the road will be used to access a new subdivision. The paving requirement aims to reduce road dust but is being interpreted to be a "complete rebuild of the road," Mulcahy said, requiring improvements such as widening of the road, putting in a new base and re-installing culverts.
"This goes above and beyond the intent of the regulation, which was to deal with the dust problem," Mulcahy said.
Canyon Creek Ranch developer Bill Daggett proposes a leveling course of 3/4-inch crushed gravel and then two lifts of asphalt to achieve a four-inch mat for the 5,238 feet of Rogers Lake Road he plans to pave. That's 2,132 feet more than Daggett is required to pave.
The road is 21 feet wide, but the county would like it widened and paved to a 24-foot width with two-foot shoulders.
"For years we've offered to pave and haven't had that much of a problem," Sands said. "If the developer is going to take care of the dust problem, then the county needs to rebuild roads before paving if they're bad roads, not throw the weight on the developers. To require the developer to come in and rebuild the whole damn road is outrageous."
Developers often volunteer to pave more than the required amount as an added amenity, Sands said, noting a forthcoming project in which a developer has volunteered to pave 1.6 miles of KM Ranch Road. At another subdivision Sands was involved with, 4.5 miles of Browns Meadow Road was paved.
"If you throw in another three-quarters to one million dollars to the cost, I won't be bringing any more projects," Sands said.
Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said the new subdivision regulations are "pretty explicit" in requiring developers to build roads to county standards. But he suggested a process by which the county and a developer could consult with an engineer to determine the parameters of what's needed to meet the minimum construction standards, "instead of just slapping some crush and pavement down."
That amounts to developers "having to tell the county what shape the county's roads are in," Mulcahy said, but added that it may be an extra cost developers would be willing to bear.
On the Rogers Lake Road paving, Mulcahy said an engineer for the Canyon Creek Ranch asked to meet with county road officials to look for any "rotten spots' in that stretch of road that could cause problems. The meeting never took place.
The county encountered problems with a paving project done by a developer on Holt Stage Road, Prunty said, where the base wasn't up to par before the paving was done.
"I'm concerned about the liability for a road not being built to standards," Prunty said.
Sands said the county was using a "double standard" by building some rural special improvement roads that weren't up to the county's own standards.
County Administrative Officer Mike Pence said some county roads built as dead-end cul de sacs were built to lesser standards before the new regulations were approved, but agreed with Sands that "it doesn't make it right.
"The ones we're designing now, we're requiring the road base to be engineered," Pence said.
As for the Rogers Lake Road project, Commissioner Joe Brenneman said the county has to accept Canyon Creek Ranch's proposal for paving, because in the county's own findings of fact it states that Rogers Lake Road is up to county standards. It's a matter of fairness, he said.
Commissioner Dale Lauman agreed the Rogers Lake Road project is a unique situation. And while he appreciates developers volunteering to do more paving than is required, he also said, "it's sometimes better to pave less road with better quality."
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com