Somers renews planning effort

After more than a year of relative inactivity, an effort to establish a Somers neighborhood plan may again be taking shape, this time led by the Flathead County Planning Office rather than by a group of individuals, as in previous efforts.

Efforts to form a neighborhood plan in Somers started date back to the mid-90's, when the first such endeavor culminated in a plan that was submitted to the Flathead County Commissioners in 1996. That plan went up in smoke when commissioners denied it, a decision that came after residents focused mainly in one area of the proposed plan voiced strong opposition to being included in the boundaries.

A more recent attempt gained momentum in 2005 and a land-use planner was hired in 2006 to assist the process. However, progress on the plan was delayed until the county's new growth policy was approved in 2007 and other matters related to growth policies were resolved. By that time, forward motion had slowed to a crawl.

The planning office recently mailed 422 letters to property owners in the Somers area, of which roughly 26 percent of the letters have been returned, with about 70 percent supporting a neighborhood plan and less than five percent were openly opposed.

Approximately 50 people came together on Thursday, May 21, for an initial informational meeting held at the Somers Middle School.

County planning director Jeff Harris said the county will be leaving the past in the past and beginning the process anew. However, he acknowledge that even the current effort will rely heavily upon support from the community and could be derailed if substantial opposition arises.

A second meeting is planned for this Thusday, June 4, at the Somers fire hall. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. and the Flathead County planning staff are encouraging all Somers residents and landowners to attend.

"The first meeting was an introductory and organizational meeting to get things kicked off," Flathead County planner Allison Mouch said. "The meeting on the fourth will be less me getting up and talking and more interative. We'll have maps and the community will have the opportunity to weigh in. We'll be putting pin to paper and we'll talk about where a boundary makes sense to them as community members."

Many longtime Somers residents see this as an important and perhaps overdue step in validating what others have attempted in the past. Most were encouraged by the amount of participation in the May 21 meeting and hoped that interest would continue to grow.

"Everyone in Somers needs to come to this," Dennis Hatton, owner of the Somers Bay Caf said. "We want everybody to get involved in it so that this can be as fair as possible for everybody and so there won't be any issues later on."