Take It To The People
Citizen Group Asks Bitterrooters For Money To Support Zoning Effort
By Greg Lemon, 2-21-08
Last year, with Ravalli County facing the enormous task of countywide zoning, a group of citizens decided to look around for grant money to help the county with the task.
They found a willing donor in the Brainerd Foundation, based in Seattle, said David Schultz, a member of the Ravalli County planning board’s land use subcommittee. Schultz was one of the people who solicited the Brainerd Foundation for money.
“We saw that (countywide zoning) was going to be a big job and it was going to take a lot of resources,” Schultz said at a press conference yesterday in Hamilton.
Now the group is looking to the community to contribute money to match part of the Brainerd Foundation’s grant.
“We’re asking the community to step forward and help us run through the finish line,” Schultz said.
The Brainerd Foundation donated $100,000 to Ravalli County in the past year for the countywide zoning project and is committed to donating $200,000 for the total project. But to make that happen the community needs to help raise $176,000 in matching funds, Schultz said. The group of citizens that has been working with the foundation and the county has raised $60,000 in matching money over several months. They need $40,000 more by April 1 and another $76,000 by mid-summer, Schultz said.
So far they’ve raised money from a diverse representation of people, businesses and organizations in the Bitterroot Valley, including the Bitterroot Building Industry Association, Bitterrooters For Planning, and the Bitterroot Resort.
The Bitter Root Land Trust is serving as the fiduciary agent for the grant and will be the organization people can donate funds to for the countywide zoning project.
The grant from the Brainerd Foundation and the community support for the interim zoning ordinance that was passed by voters in November 2006 shows the enthusiasm for countywide zoning, said Ravalli County commissioner, Carlotta Grandstaff.
“You might remember it wasn’t that long ago that you couldn’t say zoning in this community unless it was in a whisper,” Grandstaff said. “We’ve come a long ways.”
Chip Pigman – a local developer, member of the Ravalli County planning board and president of the Bitterroot Building Industry Association – is pleased with the countywide zoning project, in part because it will add more predictability to developers and landowners. The current process for getting developments approved isn’t fun for anyone, Pigman said.
“I feel like we can get something good out of (the countywide zoning) for the community and my industry,” he said. “I think it’s good to get people involved and speak their interest.”
The total cost of the countywide zoning project is estimated to be nearly $822,000 through June 2009, said Karen Hughes, director of the Ravalli County planning department.
However, not everyone at the press conference was happy with the way things are going with the zoning project. Jan Wisniewski is a member of the Darby community planning committee, which is one of seven in the valley. The CPCs were formed to aid the county in the zoning process and are saddled with recommending zoning districts around their respective communities.
But they aren’t getting any money from the county for community outreach, Wisniewski said. The Darby CPC has stopped all official proceedings until they receive money from the county for community mailings, he said.
Grandstaff and Hughes told him the county was planning to do a mass mailing to let people know about the zoning project in April and July.
Wisniewski said earlier would be better. His group is supposed to be deciding on and mapping zoning districts in February and March, he said. It needs to get the community input now and still it doesn’t have money for outreach.
It was unclear whether the money already received from the Brainerd Foundation would be used for to aid the CPCs in outreach immediately. However, Grandstaff assured Wisniewski the Darby CPC would get some money.
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