On Growth Management, Montana Voters Balk

By Matthew Frank, 11-05-08

A few Western Montana races and measures on Tuesday’s ballots were, when boiled down, all about growth—how (if at all) to plan for it and protect land from it.

On the whole, proponents of growth management didn’t have a good night.

In Ravalli County, voters repealed the Growth Policy, thereby blocking any planning and zoning regulations, and reelected Republican County Commissioner Greg Chilcott over John Meakin, a pro-streamside setback, pro-Growth Policy, pro-zoning Democrat.

In Flathead County, voters shot down a $10 million open space bond, and voted overwhelmingly in favor of pro-development, self-described property rights champion County Commissioner-elect Jim Dupont.

These counties are two of the fastest growing in the state.

Lewis and Clark County, though, did narrowly pass its open space bond by a few hundred votes, and Park County passed (PDF) a growth policy by about the same margin.

The Growth Policy repeal in Ravalli County is a big victory for property rights advocates. But the plan could have been saved, said Commissioner Alan Thompson, who supported it, had the Board allowed for a vote on zoning instead of trying to push it through without. Thompson said he predicted that voters would “take their frustrations out on the Growth Policy.”

“Unfortunately the Growth Policy is gone and we can’t do anything for two years,” Thompson said. “It’s disappointing, but I certainly understand the citizens’ decision.”

It’s no doubt a blow for advocates of streamside setbacks, in a corner of Montana where the issue couldn’t be more contentious.

Beyond anti-planning and zoning sentiments, the slumping economy may have played a role in deciding growth management issues, too.

“I think that Flathead County mirrored the nation with a deep concern about the economy, and it played an important part in elections around the country,” said Jim Watson, co-chair of the Campaign for Clean Water and Open Lands and member of the County Parks Board.

But by not voting for the open space bond, the county missed an opportunity to be proactive and to buy into a down market, Watson said. “People want to keep their powder dry.”

Marilyn Wood of the Flathead Land Trust said she was feeling very good about the open space bond’s chances until the economy tanked.

The economy may have affected other measures, too, including $16 million bond to fund a new emergency operations center in Missoula, and a legislative proposal allowing up to 25 percent of all public funds to be invested in private stock, both of which voters rejected.