Neighbors at odds over River Road plan

By HEIDI DESCH / Hungry Horse News

The River Road Neighborhood Plan took a false start Tuesday.

The plan came before the Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board for review, but the board decided it would be best to let the committee revise the plan before further discussing it themselves.

The decision came after several residents and the Plan's committee members told the board more work was needed. Some neighbors asked to not even be included in the Plan at all.

Much of the committee's concerns came out of a 24-page City staff report on the Plan. The report outlines various suggestions for changing the Plan, including making sure all of the Plan conforms to city and state law.

Committee member Luci Yeats pointed out several items she did not agree with in the staff report.

"It's unfair to change this into something that does not reflect the neighborhood's wishes," she said.

Since January 2006 the committee has been working on the document. The proposed boundaries of the Plan are defined by the Flathead River on the northwest and U.S. Highway 2 east on the north and as far east as the eastern line of the Columbia Range development. The boundary continues southward to Rogers Road, then east along Rogers Road and along the Bonneville Power Administration easement west to the river.

A neighborhood plan generally defines the overall concept of an area and provides guidance for that neighborhood. The plan, once reviewed by the Planning Board and City Council, would become part of the City's growth policy.

Many planning board members on Tuesday agreed that the committee needed to make changes to the document.

Board member Trent Miller said he wanted the River Road neighbors to know that the board didn't intend to make a decision on a plan before the committee could have a chance to make modifications.

Early on in the meeting, the board decided it would take public comment on the Plan, but not likely make a decision on it until a later date.

The Plan sets up recommendations for a number of items in the neighborhood, including lot density, open space and natural resource management.

Under the Growth Policy, the area of the Neighborhood is generally split into two types of land use. The northwest area is recommended as urban residential and the area in the southwest as suburban residential.

The urban residential area in the Growth Policy is defined as being for primarily single family houses, but could also include duplexes or apartments. The designation allows for a range of two to eight units per acre.

However, the Neighborhood Plan states that the area should allow for more than two units per acre. At the same time it encourages cluster development.

The City staff report recommends the plan instead emphasize the need for transition of density across the area.

"You want cluster development, but only single-family housing. That doesn't make sense," board member Dave Renfrow said. "Let's think about how we solve some of these problems and not look at the world through a straw."

Addressed specifically in the Plan are setbacks from the Flathead River. The Plan prescribes a 100-foot setback from the river.

Many neighbors on Tuesday said they felt this was an important part of the plan.

Jami Belt said the restriction is important to protecting the river and the habitat.

City Manager Bill Shaw said that creating a setback distance could be done, but it must be backed up with fact in the Plan.

He noted that in the past the City had struggled with enforcing setback distances in the Talbot Neighborhood Plan because the distance it proscribed was not factually based.

Also included in the Plan is a recommendation that should River Road be moved, negotiations should be made to maintain views of the Flathead River.

The Growth Policy shows River Road moved inland because of the lack of right-of-way at the current location and poor visibility at the intersection with U.S. Highway 2.

The staff report suggests that the Neighborhood Plan statement be modified because if the road is moved further from the river, is wouldn't likely be possible to maintain the view of the river from the road.

Some land owners in the proposed area asked to not be included in the Plan.

Martin Laskey and Eileen McDowell, owners of Columbia Range, both said they worked with the committee over the two-year work period, but did not wish for inclusion. Columbia Range is a 146-unit subdivision approved for just east of the Flathead River bridge on Highway 2.

"It's clear (the plan's) goal is to stop all growth," Laskey said.

Laskey said he joined the group with the hopes of guiding growth for the area.

McDowell told the board she feels the plan was constructed to stop future developments in the area.

"I believe the Neighborhood Plan is not appropriate," she said. "It shouldn't decide the density or zoning — that is done by the landowner."

The Planning Board also directed the committee to work on a definition for those properties to be included in the Plan.

The public hearing on the River Road Neighborhood Plan will continue at the Planning Board's next meeting on April 15. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall.

Also on Tuesday, the Planning Board voted to recommend a number of updates to subdivision and zoning regulations and the growth policy. Most of the changes are to bring the documents in line with changes to state laws.