Public hearing set for radio tower proposal

Daily Inter Lake

A proposal to relocate KGEZ’s radio towers to the West Valley is the main event at the Flathead County Board of Adjustment meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

KGEZ station owner John Hendricks has asked the county for a conditional-use permit to erect two 325-feet-tall transmission towers 900 feet apart on James Hanson’s farmland at the northwest corner of Farm to Market Road and Clark Drive near Kalispell.

Hendricks is looking for an alternative site for the radio towers because the land he now leases is on track to be developed and his lease won’t be renewed.

Following neighborhood opposition raised at a West Valley Land Use Committee meeting in May, county Planning Director Mark Mussman ruled that Hendricks’ request can move forward in the planning process. His ruling triggered a formal appeal from Linda Newgard, who lives very near the proposed tower site. She claims commercial uses in the West Valley Neighborhood Plan are limited to one convenience store in one specific location and to home-based businesses in order to retain the rural character of the area.

The Board of Adjustment will consider Newgard’s appeal prior to considering Hendricks’ request. If the board grants the appeal, the conditional-use permit request for the towers won’t move forward.

If the appeal is denied, the board will proceed with the conditional-use permit request and hold a public hearing.

The Board of Adjustment meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the second-floor conference room of the South Campus Building, 40 11th St. W. in Kalispell.

For more information, visit https://flathead.mt.gov/planning_zoning/boardofadjustment.php.