Commissioners rescind ‘obsolete’ master plans

The Flathead County commissioners on Tuesday voted to rescind the outdated Columbia Falls City-County and Kalispell City-County master plans.

The Columbia Falls plan was adopted as an addendum to the Flathead County Growth Policy in 1984, and the Kalispell plan in 1986. These master plans are “seen as obsolete,” according to a report by the Flathead County Planning Office, and “do not come close to expressing the changes that have occurred within the Columbia Falls and Kalispell planning areas.”

“They’ve long now outlived their usefulness,” Flathead County Planning Director Mark Mussman said.

Flathead County and the city of Columbia Falls entered into an interlocal agreement in 2005 that gave land-use jurisdiction to Columbia Falls. The city of Columbia Falls also adopted a new growth policy in September 2019.

Mussman said when reviewing zone changes in the Kalispell area, the planning office is still required to review the original master plan from 1986, even though the “planning horizon” for the document was 2010.

When asked by Commissioner Phil Mitchell if these were “redundant and not useful” documents, Mussman said they were, adding they were “woefully out of date.”

According to the Planning Office, Flathead County will soon go through the process of rewriting the County Growth Policy with participation and review from the public. But Mussman said there was no reason to wait for the rewrite to rescind these master plans because they “would not get any less obsolete.”

Reporter Colin Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or cgaiser@dailyinterlake.com