Commissioners approve Saddlehorn lot addition

Flathead County commissioners changed their position on a request from a developer to overturn a decision issued by the county’s planning director.

Initially, commissioners agreed with BJ Grieve’s decision that adding a lot to the Saddlehorn 11 subdivision, which already had received preliminary plat approval, was a material change and not allowed under county regulations.

Doug Averill, president of Saddlehorn LLC, told commissioners the developers had committed to leaving one lot as open space in their marketing and sales promotions. But that documentation wasn’t completed and therefore not reflected on the plat, he said.

Overall, the number of lots in the subdivision won’t change, Grieve said, because the developers plan to remove a lot from another area of the development.

The county’s subdivision regulations specify that the planning director has to determine if  requests to change preliminary plats are material or non-material. If the director determines the request is material, the developer must reapply for preliminary plat approval with the changes.

The county’s regulations list a change in the number of lots as a material change, Grieve said. So Grieve sent the developers a letter informing them he had determined their requested change was a material change to the preliminary plat.

The subdivider can request a hearing before the county commissioners to appeal the planning director’s decision.

If the commission agrees it’s a material change, the preliminary plat process starts over, Grieve said. If the commission says it’s not material, the process continues using the altered preliminary plat.

Commissioners first voted 2-1 to confirm Grieve’s decision that the change was material and the lot couldn’t be added.

“I made the decision that adding a lot was a material change,” Grieve said. Adding lots affects traffic and environmental impacts in a housing development. And, adding a lot after public notice has been provided and the request reviewed by the planning office and board wasn’t appropriate, he said.

Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Dale Lauman supported Grieve’s interpretation.

“It’s important we stick to and adhere to our policies and not set any precedence for other subdivisions that come,” Holmquist said. “I’m a stickler for policies and procedures and will go with what our director says.”

Commissioner Jim Dupont voted against confirming the planning director’s ruling.

“I don’t think it’s a significant change,” Dupont said. 

But after hearing more from Averill, commissioners voted to allow the change to occur without requiring the preliminary plat process to start over.

Holmquist stuck with her opposition to the request, but Lauman changed his mind and supported the developers’ request to add the lot. Dupont also stuck with his original position that the change wasn’t material.

The Saddlehorn development was shut down for 18 months because of economic conditions, Averill said, and the developers are “just now starting it back up. If we go into the summer with litigation, we can’t survive,” Averill said. “This is critical.”

The Saddlehorn development includes 96 lots on 241 acres one mile southeast of Bigfork. The houses will be connected to the Bigfork water and sewer district.

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