Gambling our future away

Congratulations Whitefish, you have just received approval for your first casino conveniently located just outside city limits and right in a residential area. How fortunate we are that the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office along with the Advisory Board took the time to listen to the many residents in the area bring up relevant and important points regarding potential detrimental neighborhood and traffic impacts, then blatantly disregard all of them and unanimously vote in favor of the Midway Tavern and Casino.

Last week’s meeting was another classic example of an epic fail at the county level to guide responsible growth in this valley. It even set new precedent by conceding that the hours of operation from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. every day of the week are consistent with all the other businesses along the Highway 93 corridor. Really? I can’t think of a single one, can you?

The Advisory Board did admit that they were powerless to do anything other than approve it, once again underscoring the fact that any and all development will get rubber-stamped and passed at the county level regardless of valid public concern. Does anyone else find it disconcerting that the Advisory Board essentially stated that the public input at a public hearing has absolutely no bearing at all upon the outcome?

As citizens here in the county we are gambling our futures away in more than one way.

— Holly Batcheller Kemp, Whitefish