Steamboat Landing subdivision heads back to county planning board

A large-scale housing subdivision in Somers known as Steamboat Landing is headed back to the Flathead County Planning Board on Wednesday.  

The project proposed to include about 250 residential units has been the subject of several public hearings before the Planning Board and Flathead County commissioners in August ordered environmental testing on the site which is located near a Superfund site.  

The county Planning Board meets Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. in the South Campus Building at 40 11th St. W. in Kalispell. Recommendations from the board regarding the requests are forwarded to the Flathead County commissioners for final consideration. 

Somers Project, LLC and Somers Property, LLC are seeking a preliminary plat for Steamboat Landing to develop 180 single-family homes and 72 condo units on the 64-acre property near Somers Middle School.  

A key concern heard during public comment on the Steamboat Landing proposal has been about whether contamination from the former BNSF Railway tie treatment site to the south could migrate into the subdivision.  

The area was identified as a Superfund site in 1984 due to the contamination of groundwater and soil from operations to treat wood ties. Treatment of soil and groundwater began in 1994. 

Big Sky Civil and Environmental, Inc., out of Great Falls, conducted environmental testing on the property this fall determining that “widespread contamination of the property does not appear to exist.” The firm dug test pits to collect surface soils, subsurface soils and groundwater at the site.  

A detectable concentration of methylene chloride, which can be found in agriculturally related pesticide products, was found in the samples. However, the levels were below the limits set by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and thus don’t require further investigation.  

The report concluded that while it’s impracticable to test soils and groundwater at every location throughout the subject property, the environmental professional can confidently state that elevated levels of chemicals of potential concern were not encountered at the test locations.  

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the new information presented in the environmental assessment before making a recommendation to commissioners.  

The developers behind the project have argued that the property is well situated for housing and would provide needed homes for the Flathead Valley.   

While some public comments have lauded the development for providing housing, others have raised concerns regarding traffic and safety, the impact to wildlife and density of the project and its impact to the nearby Somers Beach State Park.  

TWO OTHER public hearings are on the agenda.  

The board will look at a request from Home Again Developments for a preliminary plat approval of Inspiration Way, a proposal to create 12 residential lots on 19.65 acres. The property is located at 210 and 230 Trap Road near Columbia Falls.  

The average size of the lots is 1.64 acres, and no common area or open space is proposed. The land is not zoned and undeveloped.  

The board will consider a zone change request from Christian and Courtney Shaefer for 1.37 acres at 36, 52 and 64 Monarch Lane near Kalispell. The zoning would change from R-2 one family limited residential to R-5 two family residential.  

The property contains two mobile homes, a single-family home and an accessory dwelling unit.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.