Letter from the editor

And so at last, it comes to this

Over the last few years, the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan has been written about often in this space. Volunteers have been lauded and the process lambasted. Now, at last, it will be done for a while. The Flathead County Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a resolution to adopt the plan — or not — next Thursday, April 23.

There is no doubt that the legal bar for neighborhood plans should be high enough to discourage half-baked documents from becoming part of the county’s growth policy. The process should not, however, be so laborious that it takes half a decade to draft a revision.

From the day I arrived in Bigfork, the whole concept of neighborhood plans and the battles waged over potential zoning issues have left me a bit flummoxed. I grew up in an urban area where the zoning had been in place for some time. The concept of large tracts of unzoned areas right next to town was the exception. Here, it is the rule.

Despite their often infuriating techniques and penchant for attaching lengthy civics lessons to every point, the private property rights lobby has made many good points throughout the process of revising this plan. Nobody wants a nuclear power plant to spring up on their next door neighbor’s property, but nobody wants their investment zoned in a way that strips away its worth either.

It is a balance. One that, in the end, most seem to agree the Bigfork plan has achieved. It explains to developers and potential residents what this community would like to see. Presumably, adhering to some of those ideas would be advantageous for everyone involved.

Conversely, the document is essentially toothless. If you want to build a bright pink building with a decidedly non-Western theme, knock yourself out. Just don’t expect your neighbors to frequent the establishment.

In the end, that’s what this neighborhood plan is about. It’s about neighbors and how to be a decent one. It’s about balancing personal desires with community desires. It is, beneath all the “Therefores” and “Whereases,” a document of the frontier ethic in which people are free to do as they please, but have a moral obligation to the place they call home.

This paper has made it a point not to endorse things out of concern that it would color our impartiality in the eyes of readers. This will be an exception:

The community has drafted a document it stands behind. It has earned the hard-won support of the Flathead County Planning Board. The county commissioners should vote to adopt this plan; a grassroots effort that encourages people to be a part of their community. Something we should all be doing anyway.

—Alex Strickland