County revisits large-tract zoning classification
A proposed large-tract rural zoning classification aimed at protecting continued natural resource-based uses in rural locations is the focus of a public hearing before the Flathead County Planning Board on July 14.
The new classification would be added as a text amendment to county zoning regulations. While the district would protect and encourage the continuation of traditional resource-related uses, it recognizes that property owners may want to subdivide their land in the future.
In addition to protecting traditional natural-resource uses, the new zone would provide a certain level of development flexibility for landowners that also would encourage the preservation of open space.
Density in the large-tract zone would be one single-family residence per 40 acres as a starting point.
But density could be increased by setting off-site open space under permanent conservation easements as part of a development project, transferring the adjusted density units into a project site, according to a Planning Office staff report.
It caps subdivision density at one unit per 2.5 acres, but developers submitting an overall development plan could be given one single-family residence per acre.
The staff report stresses that no new physical zoning districts will be created if the text amendment is adopted.
If the large-tract proposal is approved by the county commissioners, the text would be added to zoning regulations as an option for landowners in the future.
A new definition is proposed as part of the text amendment, to address the permitted use of low-impact mineral extraction within the proposed large-tract rural district.
Low-impact mineral extraction and rock picking includes weekday site mining operations that result in the removal of less than 10,000 cubic yards of material.
No more than 10 acres of active mining area would be permitted at any given time, and no on-site asphalt batching or concrete plants would be permitted without a conditional-use permit.
The county considered creating the new zone last October, but put the proposal on hold after public pleas for further review, especially regarding density requirements. Over the past nine months a Planning Board subcommittee has held nine meetings to fine-tune the draft document for large-tract rural zoning.
A second public hearing at the upcoming meeting involves a request by the Theadore Jeffers Trust for a text amendment to county zoning regulations that would add community residential facility as a conditional use in the West Valley Zoning District.
The Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, in the second-floor conference room of the Earl Bennett Building, 1035 First Ave. W. in Kalispell.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com