Complaint prompts hearing over portable toilet storage

A complaint over the storage of portable toilets at North Valley Refuse is the impetus for a conditional-use permit request that will be considered Dec. 6 by the Flathead County Board of Adjustment.

Montana Waste Systems Inc., doing business as North Valley Refuse and North Valley Portables, is asking for the expansion of an existing, legally non-conforming use in the Blanchard Lake Zoning District.

Located on U.S. 93 south of Whitefish, the waste management business has been in operation at the 5-acre site for about 35 years and predates the Blanchard Lake Zoning District created in 1993. The area currently is zoned AG-20 — agricultural with a 20-acre minimum lot size. Many commercial land uses existed in the area prior to zoning, according to the county Planning Office staff report. The area is a mix of residential, agriculture and commercial land uses.

North Valley Refuse, which operates on land owned by Connie Cohen, is considered a legally non-conforming use because it existed before the area was zoned. According to county zoning laws, a non-conforming use may be expanded, subject to a conditional-use permit, within the confines of the lot or parcel of land upon which it is located at the time of the adoption or amendment of zoning regulations.

“Because the storage of portable toilets on the property is similar, but not the same as the storage of Dumpsters and the expanded use will use more area of the property, the proposal meetings the criteria regarding expansion of non-conforming uses,” the staff report notes.

The permit request was prompted by a complaint from an adjacent property owner. If granted, the permit will bring the North Valley Refuse property into compliance with the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office, according to the staff report.

Currently North Valley Refuse has 11 garbage trucks, eight portable toilet service trucks, about 650 Dumpsters of varying sizes and about 360 portable toilets associated with the waste management business.

The toilets are stored on the eastern portion of the property.

The staff report findings indicate adverse neighborhood impacts are not anticipated in terms of odors as a result of the proposed expanded use. All waste from the portable toilets is disposed of off-site, and the toilets are cleaned before they are stored on the property.

The expanded use also is not anticipated to create any additional traffic, noise or dust.

The planning staff recommends the conditional-use permit be approved.

A public hearing on North Valley Refuse’s request will be held when the Board of Adjustment meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, in the second floor conference room of the South Campus Building, 40 11th St. W. in Kalispell. Board of Adjustment decisions are considered final and are not reviewed by the county commissioners unless a decision is appealed.

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