Lake County Subcommittee prepares presentation

By LAURA BEHENNA

Bigfork Eagle

The Lake County Subcommittee of the Bigfork Steering Committee agreed to disagree about where to propose the boundaries of a special zoning district for northern Lake County, south and east of Bigfork.

The group sees a new planning and zoning district as a tool to give residents a voice in the growth and development of the community while protecting property values.

The 10 people who attended the subcommittee meeting March 9 did agree that the boundary decision should be left to the residents who would be affected. They plan to propose holding public meetings this summer, when seasonal residents would be present, at the March 15 BSC meeting.

“To do justice to the issue, we need to hold public meetings,” Ferndale attorney Leslie Budewitz, the subcommittee chair, said.

The group has been meeting since October 2006 to discuss the prospect of establishing a zoning district in the East Shore and Swan Lake areas of Lake County. The areas are already zoned for density but not for specific uses, Budewitz said. Zoning for use is at least as important as zoning for density, Edd Blackler asserted. One goal of the new zoning district would be to funnel new growth toward where services such as water and sewer already exist, committee members said.

The county line between Flathead and Lake counties would form the northern boundary of the district. To the east, all developed roads east of Hwy. 83 would be included.

Three options for the southern boundary of the district are on the table: Option 1 would include the northern end of Lake County from Bigfork to just south of Woods Bay and east through Ferndale and the Swan Sites (about 30 square miles), option 2 would extend the boundary south to the Yellow Bay clubhouse and east to the mountains (150 square miles), and option 3 would also include the area south of Swan Lake down to Fatty Creek Road (240 square miles). Option 3 would cover all of School District 38.

The area the Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee covers comprises 39 square miles. The Lake County district would have a similar advisory council with seven elected members proposed.

The subcommittee will present its findings at the BSC meeting at noon on Thursday, March 15, at Bethany Lutheran Church.