County to pay out $2.1 million

Flathead County will pay $2.1 million under a revised agreement to settle a land-use lawsuit filed by developers Keith Simon and Sean Averill of Whitefish.

On Tuesday, commissioners approved an amendment to the release and settlement agreement with Kleinhans Farm Estates, the business name for the developers of the proposed North Shore Ranch subdivision near Somers.

The revised agreement followed a 2010 agreement that had been crafted to resolve a lawsuit filed by the developers against the county for denying approval of North Shore Ranch.

The county originally had agreed to pay the developers $1 million and to construct an internal road network for the subdivision and two turn lanes on Montana 82.

After a cost estimate for building the interior roads was completed, county commissioners determined it would be less expensive to increase the settlement amount than to build the roads. When the case first was settled in February 2010, it was estimated the road work might push the total settlement cost to $3 million or more.

The new agreement calls for the county to pay the developers $1.1 million by Dec. 1. The second payment of $1 million is due by Dec. 1, 2012, however $125,000 of that is due by Feb. 1, 2012.

Upon making the final payment, “the county shall be released of any further obligation to construct the improvements,” the agreement states.

The money to pay the developers will come from an increase in property taxes assessed on county taxpayers during the next two years, County Administrator Mike Pence said.

The developers had proposed a 286-lot subdivision near Somers. After county commissioners declined on April 23, 2008, to approve the preliminary plat for the subdivision, the developers sued the county.

 In their lawsuit, the developers said the commissioners’ decision was not based on law and contradicted facts in the planning staff report on the project.

The development had first been proposed in 2006. After Planning Board members recommended the subdivision not be approved because of its proximity to a waterfowl production area, threats to Flathead Lake, pollution and impacts to Montana 82, the developers withdrew that application.

In August 2007, a new subdivision application was submitted with fewer homes and a larger conservation area added next to the waterfowl area. The Planning Board recommended that plan be approved, but commissioners denied approval.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.