Hearings on tap for residential, commercial subdivisions

The Flathead County Planning Board will hold public hearings and review multiple subdivision proposals and assess a zoning text amendment in the Upper Canyon area during its virtual meeting this evening at 6 p.m.

Attendees can join the meeting through audio conference by calling 1-650-479-3218 and using the event number 287-260-017#.

The board will review a proposal by owner and applicant C.R.O.W. LLC to build six residential lots on the intersection of Lamb Lane and Karrow Avenue, just southwest of the city of Whitefish. The lots will be under 2 acres with approximately 6 acres of open space on the 15-acre property. Primary access to the subdivision would be via Karrow Road with direct access to lots via Lamb Lane.

The board will also look at preliminary plat approval for a five-lot commercial subdivision near the intersection of Montana 35 and Montana 82. The owner, Lou Pickavance, and the applicants, Mark Herman and Katherine Conrad, seek to create five 1-acre commercial lots just to the west of an existing bowling alley and parking lot.

The current owner attempted to build a subdivision at that location in 2006, and since then has added improvements such as utilities and water and sewer lines. The property is zoned as “B-3 Community Business,” which specifies “the district should be a business center and not a strip development.”

The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee reviewed the property on March 26.

In addition, the board will assess adding a new area to a section of the Canyon Area Land Use Regulatory System called the “Summit Mountain Area.” The proposed area is currently included in the Bear Creek Area, where the minimum lot size is 20 acres, and is approximately 5 miles away from the Glacier County border along U.S. 2.

The applicant is requesting the new Summit Mountain Area have no minimum lot size requirements so the applicant has the option “to create a very limited amount of new parcels,” according to the Planning Office staff report. The applicant owns 32 acres, including the Summit Mountain Lodge, with approximately 25 of those unsuitable for development because of environmental constraints.

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