BUILDING IN THE BIG SKY

Development in Montana Proceeds with a Little Flexibility

By Headwaters News, 9-06-06

Managing growth in the Rockies is dynamic. As the region expands into new physical and economic territory, the existing rules of operating aren’t necessary appropriate as they stand.

Such is the case in two development stories out of Montana today. In Lake County, reports the Missoulian, commissioners and a developer hammered out a plan to create a unique sewer district, with the developer as its sole member, so he could continue on with a proposed subdivision of 42 luxury homes on 41 acres in the Swan Valley.

The agreement took the developer and commissioners months of back-and-forth and some redesign on the part of the developer, before both commissioners and lawyers approved the plan. Once lots are sold, new owners will also become members of the sewer district.

In adjacent Flathead County, commissioners and the public are wrestling with the commissioners’ decision to not include funds to continue long-term growth studies, leaving that task completely unfunded for now.

Commissioners say the decision came because the initial long-term growth plan isn’t yet finished, and it’s too early to worry about next steps. They have plenty of work to do in the meantime, which is detailed in the Kalispell Daily Inter Lake story. Plus, they say, they can always amend the budget mid-year, if they need to find the cash to fund more studies.

“I think that’s a more realistic and responsible approach, rather than just asking for a bunch of money because we know we’re going to need this at some point,” planning director Jeff Harris told the Inter Lake.
[End of article]

It looks like a citizens revolt against development may be 'developing' in the Flathead.

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2006/09/07/news/news02.prt
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Petition targets Kalispell growth plan

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

A proposed initiative would significantly cut back how much commercial development that Kalispell’s government plans to allow just north of town.

The proposal also would require Kalispell to study the impacts on city services and on businesses elsewhere in town before annexing any land in the almost 13 square miles north of West Reserve Drive.

The bottom line: A substitute is being proposed for Kalispell’s recently adopted changes in its growth policy to the north. The initiative, among other things, would prevent the proposed Glacier Mall from being developed within city limits.

This is what has happened:

• Roxanna Brothers of Kalispell submitted a petition in late August to set up a referendum to repeal the changes the Kalispell City Council approved on Aug. 7 to the growth policy. That petition needs 1,541 signatures of Kalispell voters by Nov. 20 to put that proposed revocation on a ballot.

• A few days later, Brothers submitted a second petition to put an initiative on the same ballot that would install a different policy covering the city’s growth to the north. That second petition also needs 1,541 signatures. Government officials are trying to pin down the legal deadline for those signatures.

The double petition drive is prompted by the legal requirement that the council-approved policy be repealed before a new initiative-driven policy can take its place...
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If people cannot accept zoning, and/or if I-154 goes through, western Montana had better get ready to roll over and take it when it comes to 1 per acre density in beautiful places like the Swan, etc. Guess what folks, your majority private landowner is a Real Estate Investment Trust with a responsibility to their shareholders to maximize profits. Go take a look at what they've been up to around Moosehead lake in Maine.