Not-so-great impact

This is regarding the proposed development of the Kootenai Lodge on Swan Lake.

As a summer resident of Swan Sites since 1988, I am terribly concerned about the impact such a development would have on our small community. The proposed 65 units on 40 acres will grossly overpopulate the area. There is no lot smaller than one acre on the river, and across Sunburst, the lot sizes are five acres.

I believe that most of us bought and built here in Swan Sites to get away from the frantic living in a larger area. This development will cause the degradation of this lifestyle. Traffic on Sunburst Drive as well as on South Ferndale Drive, the access road from Highway 83, and across Swan River, will grow exponentially. The noise from this traffic and from the additional population will disturb our rural environment.

Children on bikes, adults on bikes, runners, people, young and old out for a walk; people walking their dogs-all will be in danger from incre-ased traffic. And turning Sunburst into a two-lane thoroughfare is not the answer!

In addition to the impact on our community life, the impact on wildlife will be considerable. Endangered trout use Johnson Creek (which borders the Kootenai) as vital spawning grounds and wild animals use Johnson Creek as a natural passage between the Mission and Swan Mountain Ranges.

This disastrous development must not be approved.

Vilma Chemers

Bigfork