County to consider developer proposal

A public hearing for the proposed Rosewater water-skiing subdivision will be held Monday at the Flathead County Courthouse.

The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ chamber on the third floor.

Developer Bill Tanner of Score Management wants to build a 58-lot subdivision in two phases around a 27-acre manmade lake on farmland north of Kalispell. He’s asking for a planned unit development design that will allow homes to be clustered around the lake.

After making changes to conditions and findings of fact to address various water issues, the Flathead County Planning Board in February forwarded a unanimous recommendation of approval to the commissioners following an initial public hearing.

The property is zoned suburban agricultural with a 5-acre minimum lot size and is located east of Whitefish Stage Road on the north side of Rose Crossing. Rosewater would feature 91 acres of open space with 46 single-family homes and 12 townhouses on the 154-acre site.

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 and will seek a change in use for that water right to fill and maintain the lake.

At the Planning Board hearing, many neighbors testified against the project because of what they see as potential environmental impacts to the nearby Whitefish River and the underlying perched aquifer.

A perched water table is an aquifer that is situated above the regional water table and occurs where there is an impermeable layer of rock or sediment — clay in this case — above the main water table but below the surface of the land.

There also were concerns about the durability of a proposed plastic liner for the manmade lake, so the Planning Board recommended a requirement for long-term maintenance of the lake liner.