Bigfork plan finally official

The Flathead County Commissioners voted to adopt the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan on Tuesday morning, but not before a final change that one of them decried as a 'return to the good ol' boys system."

Commissioner Joe Brenneman voiced stern disagreement with a decision supported by commissioners Dale Lauman and Jim Dupont to change a section of the future land use map on Highway 83 from agricultural to light industrial.

The request encompasses a parcel owned by Mike Touris, who is currently in litigation with the county over the denial of a zone change application to his property in 2007. The map change request was made directly to the commissioners during the plan's 30-day comment peroid, bypassing the regular BLUAC and planning board stages of approval that such a change would normally be subject to.

"I will vote in favor (of the plan), but only with great reluctance and in tribute to the people who worked so hard on it." Brenneman said. "I am extremely disappointed that we have returned to the good ol' boy system."

With the change, the commissioners voted 3-0 to adopt the plan, which is now officially part of the Flathead County Growth Policy.