Water-skiing subdivision wins partial OK

A zoning overlay for the proposed Rosewater water-skiing subdivision won approval Monday from the Flathead County commissioners, but the subdivision proposal was sent back to the Planning Board for further review and another public hearing on May 8.

Bill Tanner of Score Management wants to build a 58-lot subdivision in two phases around a 27-acre manmade lake on 154 acres of land east of Whitefish Stage Road and north of Rose Crossing. 

It’s not a new concept, he told the commissioners. Water-skiing subdivisions are popular throughout the country, and a similar development in Helena has been very successful, he said.

But the idea is new to Flathead County, and working through the planning process was a challenge for the commissioners.

Two hours of public testimony focused on the proposed planned unit development for Rosewater — a zoning overlay that allows the developer to cluster homes around the lake on acreage where the underlying zoning is suburban-agricultural with a five-acre minimum lot size.

Commissioners Gary Krueger and Pam Holmquist voted in favor of the planned unit development while Commissioner Cal Scott was opposed. An extra condition was added changing the manmade lake from a permitted to a conditional use. That will require the developer to seek approval for the lake from the Flathead Board of Adjustment.

“This will give us greater control over activities at the lake” such as the hours of operation, said Krueger, who moved to add the extra condition. “I think it’s a good deal for the applicant and the homeowners.”

The preliminary plat — the first step in the process of subdividing property into lots and outlining open space, street layout and so on — didn’t require a public hearing. 

However, after listening to testimony on Rosewater’s planned unit development, the commissioners had questions about how best to address neighborhood concerns such as the long-term maintenance of the lake, noise and other impacts.

The Planning Board, which recommended approval of Rosewater with a number of conditions, added a requirement for long-term maintenance of the lake liner. Yet there were lingering questions about the lake maintenance among the commissioners.

Deciding there was enough “credible and relevant” new information that had been presented through public comments since the Planning Board hearing in February, the commissioners opted to send the preliminary plat back to the Planning Board for another public hearing specifically on the new information.

“The applicant will obviously also have the opportunity to address the new information and provide any of his own information prior to the public hearing,” Planning Director BJ Grieve said.

Several people voiced concerns about the potential for the plastic liner to spring a leak and allow water potentially contaminated with herbicides to flow into the nearby Whitefish River.

Bill Ashe pointed out the life of such a plastic liner is only 20 years and also was concerned about the noise from motorboats on the lake. He submitted a petition against the project signed by about three dozen area neighbors.  

Ron Thibert said it’s not a matter of if the liner will leak but when. Putting a manmade lake into farmland is “totally unacceptable,” he said.

There’s also neighborhood concern about the subdivision’s potential environmental impact on an underlying perched aquifer.

A perched water table is an aquifer 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.

Several people spoke in favor of Rosewater.

Gene Dziza said he believes the developer is taking the necessary precautions with the proposed lake liner. He pointed out that plastic liners routinely are used in landfills and sewer lagoons.

“We’re not dealing with hazardous waste here,” he said about the water-skiing lake.

Dziza also said the clustered housing around the lake is a more environmentally friendly proposal than the five-acre “ranchettes,” each with its own septic system, that suburban agricultural zoning allows.

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