County planning numbers still reflect slowdown

Fee revenue collected by the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office for the fiscal year that ended June 30 dropped for the second straight year, according to data compiled by county Planning Director BJ Grieve.

In the year that just ended, the county collected $76,545 in various fees, down 33 percent from the $114,309 collected in the 2009-10 fiscal year and down 53 percent from the $162,544 collected two years ago. The county’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

Generally, fewer applications for most types of development were filed last year than in the two previous years, a continued reflection of the slowdown in development in the county and region.

“We have hit bottom, I can say that pretty soundly,” Grieve said. “Virtually all the application volumes we track and all the indicators we track, quite frankly can’t get any lower.”

Nine final plat applications were filed last year, down from 13 two years ago and 41 in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

That number didn’t surprise Grieve.

Final plat applications require that all the infrastructure be installed. If developers weren’t in the midst of installing that infrastructure, many halted work on subdivisions, he said.

“That physical infrastructure is arguably one of the most cost-intensive parts of development,” Grieve said.

County planning staffers reviewed four major preliminary plat applications last year, down from five in 2009-10 and 15 in 2008-09.

Two applications for major land use reviews in the Canyon were submitted last year, up from zero in the 2009-10 fiscal year and one in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Five conditional use permit applications were filed last year, down from 16 the year before and 17 applications two years ago, Grieve’s report shows.

The number of lakeshore permit applications also dropped, to 55 last year, down from 89 the prior year and 124 in 2008-09.

Grieve considers the number of violation complaints noteworthy.

The 14 community decay complaints filed last year matched the number from the year before, which was double the seven complaints filed in 2008-09.

And 23 zoning violation complaints were filed last year, up from 22 the prior year and 18 in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The increased complaints were attibuted to “irritability,” Grieve said.

“As more people feel the pinch, we get a lot more calls in general with people complaining and asking questions about their neighbors. I speculate that people are paying more attention to what’s going on and spending more time at home and noticing their neighbor’s places. Or people may be trying to sell their property and they blame their neighbor’s property conditions for the lack of offers.”

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