Subdivision with water features planned north of Kalispell

A subdivision featuring two man-made lakes for water-skiing is proposed on 154 acres of farmland north of Rose Crossing.

Developer Bill Tanner of Bigfork, with Score Management, plans to build the 58-lot Rosewater Subdivision in two phases around the large recreational water features.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing Feb. 13 to consider the project and a planned unit development overlay that would allow Tanner to cluster the homes around the lakes. The county commissioners, who will have the final say, are scheduled to hold a hearing on the planned unit development on March 6.

The property is zoned SAG-5 — suburban agricultural with a 5-acre minimum lot size — and is located a quarter-mile west of Whitefish Stage Road on the north side of Rose Crossing. According to the developer’s application, Rosewater would feature 91 acres of open space with 47 single-family lots and 12 townhouses encompassing about 47 acres. The lakes would cover 27 acres.

Water-skiing subdivisions are popular throughout the United States, but it’s the first time this kind of development has been proposed in the Flathead Valley.

“Apparently there’s a demand” for this kind of subdivision, planner Alex Hogle said, explaining that such specially made lakes provide smoother conditions for water skiers. “There’s not the conflict of use you may have on a public lake.”

The farmland most recently has produced winter wheat and canola with an irrigation system drawing water from the nearby Whitefish River. Tanner has an irrigation right, with a water line and pump that are accessed by a 10-foot-wide easement over a neighbor’s property to the east.

As part of the proposed subdivision, Tanner will request a change in use for the water right to fill and maintain the ponds, and the water right eventually would be transferred to the Rosewater Homeowners Association. Much of the irrigation system, such as the pivots and standpipes, along with the easement, would be removed if the preliminary plat is approved, the application noted.

The developer intends to tap into the Evergreen Water and Sewer District for a public water system, but there are a couple of caveats.

Final permission to connect to the Evergreen system can’t be provided until Rosewater has been annexed into the Evergreen district and until improvements can be made by the district to increase the water capacity for fire flows, the application said.

The cost for the required extensions and improvements to the Evergreen system are estimated at $540,000.

Rosewater would have its own private septic system.

The proposed development promises a variety of amenities for homeowners, such as a small clubhouse with lockers and changing rooms, volleyball and tennis courts, picnic area and walking trails.

Because water-skiing involves motorized watercraft, the subdivision application notes that “there is the presumption that noise could be an impact on neighboring properties.”

Tanner plans to mitigate the noise by placing the lakes in the middle of the property and using excavated dirt to elevate the lots, creating a “noise attenuating berm.”

If the subdivision is approved and hurdles over the water-system hookup are cleared, Tanner proposes building 31 lots and some of the subdivision road system in the first phase.

Ideally the first phase would be completed by the fall of 2013, but Tanner notes in the application that it could be three years from the time the preliminary plat is approved until the final plat is submitted for approval.

The remaining lots and completion of Rosewater Lane through the subdivision would be targeted for completion by fall 2016, “but it could be longer depending on market conditions and infrastructure construction,” the application states.

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