Evergreen gravel-pit expansion sought
Expansion of an Evergreen area gravel pit will be considered by the Flathead County Board of Adjustment following a public hearing on June 1.
Robin and Joyce Street want a conditional-use permit to add an additional two acres to their existing gravel pit at 1414 Rose Crossing, between Whitefish Stage Road and U.S. 2 along the Whitefish River.
The majority of the Streets’ 160 acres is used for agriculture, including pasture land for livestock, but 15 acres has been approved for extractive industry operations, according to the Planning Office staff report. About seven acres is being used for gravel extraction.
The acreage will be reclaimed as a fishing pond, and while the additional two acres will extend the duration of onsite operations, all activity is expected to be completed by December.
The Planning Office has recommended the permit be approved.
In other business, the board will hold a public hearing on a conditional-use permit request by Lakeside Mercantile owners Jeremy and Deborah Newell to allow for multiple principal uses on one tract of land within the Lakeside Special Commercial Zoning District at 7220 U.S. 93 S.
The Lakeside Community Council has advisory jurisdiction and unanimously recommended approval.
The Blacktail Chalet ticket sales office for Blacktail Mountain Ski area was moved to the Newells’ property when the county obtained the property across from the mercantile for a public park. The Newells want to continue to operate Blacktail Chalet as a retail sales office, but the chalet becomes a second principal use on the property, and multiple uses on single lots need conditional-use approval.
The board will rehear a request by Nodding Onion LLC for a zoning variance to its property at 980 Demersville Road within the Lower Side Zoning District.
The board denied the original variance request in February on a 3-2 vote, subsequently approving a partial paving alternative recommended by the planning staff. The approval of this variance alternative was based on two project-specific conditions. The second condition approved by the board noted that “if it is determined by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality that site design Alternative B is not feasible, the applicant may reapply for reconsideration of this variance.”
The board meets at 6 p.m. June 1 in the second-floor conference room at the Earl Bennett Building, 1035 First Ave. W. in Kalispell.