County board of adjustment looks at event facility in Lower Valley
The Flathead County Board of Adjustment will consider Tuesday a request for a recreational facility in Lower Valley.
Mountain Traveler Ranch is requesting a conditional permit to hold events for “gatherings for meetings or to celebrate life’s milestones” on 10 acres at 1220 Lower Valley Road. Only a portion of the property would be used for events including the existing barn and outside area directly surrounding the barn.
The board meets at 6 p.m. in the South Campus Building at 40 11th St. W. in Kalispell.
The property is currently developed with a single-family dwelling, detached garage, barn, shop and multiple accessory structures. The remainder of the property is used for the landowners’ horse ranch and hay production.
The property is zoned SAG-10 suburban agricultural.
According to the application, events proposed include birthday and anniversary celebrations, wedding receptions and ceremonies, community events such as reunions and youth group hangouts and student 4H and FFA events. Concerts will not be held.
The applicant has set a guest maximum of 125 people per event with an estimate of 25 vehicles per gathering. There would be 36 parking spaces on the property. The frequency of events is to be kept to one per week from April to October, and one event per month between November and March.
There are two approaches to the property, one from the north off Lower Valley Road and the other — identified as the main access — is off of Somers Stage Road.
The planning staff report states that the proposal could negatively affect the roads accessing the property because traffic generation would increase on Lower Valley Road by 23% and on Somers Stage Road, a gravel road, by 49%. The staff report notes that while the owners intend to limit guest attendance at events, vendors will likely be accessing the property on the day of and leading up to the events.
The Planning Department received seven public comments in opposition to the request. Concerns include increased traffic and accidents, light pollution, dangers of guests drinking and driving, disruption of neighborhood peace due to noise and that the proposed use is not in keeping with the character of the area.
The applicant last year began the process of obtaining a permit for a recreational facility, but due to opposition from some of the neighbors reconsidered the scope of the events to better address concerns. The intent is to target micro-events as much as possible with 50 or fewer people, according to the application, and limit the frequency of events. Restrictions would also limit the hours for events and when amplified sound could be used at events.
The owner states in their application that the SAG-10 zoning results in a challenge for the property in that it is too small to produce enough agriculture to pay for itself thus needing to supplement with an added form of income.
“With our current economic conditions, we personally need to allow our land to generate revenue,” the application says. “We are not able to simply buy and own property for the sheer pleasure of having it but need to be able to generate revenue to pay payments and taxes that allow us to keep this property’s historic nature.”
Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.