West Glacier mulls commercial expansion

A meeting will be held Tuesday in West Glacier to get community input about expanding or altering the commercial area in West Glacier.

The forum begins at 7 p.m. at the West Glacier Fire Hall, 1 Grinnell Drive.

A group of private business owners in the West Glacier area recently approached the Flathead County Planning Office about pursuing a text amendment to the Designated Service Center in the Canyon Area Land Use Regulatory System, which includes the Middle Canyon Zoning District.

The Canyon plan identifies a Designated Service Center as the area where various retail and service businesses are concentrated. It lists only one Designated Service Center, in West Glacier.

Details have not been provided yet about what kinds of commercial changes West Glacier business owners have in mind.

A similar attempt was made in 2004, but the applicants ended up pulling their request due to public opposition, according to planner Allison Mouch.

“These business owners were interested in our assistance in setting up a community forum or a series of them, depending on interest following Tuesday's meeting to discuss potential changes, public concerns, and how best to address them moving forward,” Mouch said.

After discussing the request with the county commissioners in October, the commissioners agreed it’s reasonable for the Planning Office to help with the discussion.

Any amendment to the Designated Service Center would be initiated privately, not by the county, Mouch noted. And if there is minimal public interest and/or unwillingness to move forward, the Planning Office will ask the commissioners to determine whether or not planners should continue to spend time and resources on the request.

The Planning Office has proposed a series of public workshops, either monthly or bi-monthly, that would extend into May, depending on the amount of community involvement. If a proposed text amendment emerges, it would be considered for a recommendation by the Middle Canyon Land Use Advisory Committee and Flathead County Planning Board, with a final decision rendered by the county commissioners.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.