Dozens Speak in Support of Expanding Egan Slough Zone

A packed house of local residents provided about an hour of public comment on the proposed expansion of the Egan Slough Zoning District, which, if approved, could adversely affect a proposed water-bottling plant in Creston.

The Flathead County Commission’s chambers were overfull with people hoping to voice or listen to public opinion on expanding the zoning district by 530 acres, adding to the existing 1,150-acre district.

As the only citizen-initiated zoning in Flathead County, the Egan Slough Zoning District was put into place in 2002 at the behest of the landowners in the area who wanted to protect and preserve the agricultural land and farming functions on it.

Now, the landowners have come back to the county commission seeking approval to add another 530 acres to the district, which would include the land on which Lew Weaver intends to build and run the Montana Artesian Water Co., a bottled-water venture proposed in Creston. The company would be able to pump 710 acre-feet of water annually from an underground aquifer near Egan Slough along the Flathead River, or roughly 1.2 billion 20-ounce water bottles.

That would mean 140,000 bottles per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the scope of which prompted considerable backlash from residents on neighboring farmland.

At the start of the Sept. 8 hearing, Commissioner Pam Holmquist said none of the comments should be pointed at the water-bottling venture or Weaver, since the hearing was technically about the zoning district. Public comment ended up running more than an hour, with more than 40 people speaking.

The new zone would designate the land AG-80, meaning the minimum lot area is 80 acres with 10 percent permitted lot coverage. The idea behind it, according to the landowners who proposed it, is to keep the land in the farming business instead of subdividing it.

Tom Esch, a former Flathead County attorney now in private practice representing some of the landowners behind the petition, said the soil in the proposed zone is some of the finest available for farming and should be protected, and the zone would protect the rural nature of the neighborhood as well.

“This zone is appropriate with or without the bottling plant,” Esch said.

Jessy Coltrane, a wildlife biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said FWP supports expanding the zoning district to help fight riparian-area degradation and to avoid subdivisions along the riverside.

“This zoning would help ensure we have larger lots along this important part of the river,” she said.

Several landowners within the proposed or existing zoning district also spoke, giving their support for the expansion. Steven Harvey, who owns property in Egan Slough, said Weaver might believe the petition is about him personally, but it’s actually about maintaining the character of the land and the traditional agricultural uses. Others said it would matter what kind of industry it was – it wouldn’t belong in the Creston farmland.

Other residents who don’t live within the proposed district, such as Sharon DeMeester, also commented to support the district. DeMeester said the commission brought this fight on itself because it failed to make a development-zoning plan for the entire county.

“Had Flathead County planned and zoned, we wouldn’t be here today,” she said.

Randy Sundberg, whose family has farmed in the area for generations, said farmland continues to disappear, wiped out by development.

“We need to preserve whatever farmland we have left,” Sundberg said.

There were two opponents to the district expansion – John Dudis, the attorney representing Weaver, and James Lester. Lester said if the county approved the expansion it would be akin to tyrannical oppression because Weaver couldn’t do what he wanted with his own land.

Dudis also touched on private property rights, saying the proposed expansion is an attempt to illegally “reverse spot zone” the Weavers’ property. He also said if the petition’s goal was to stop the water-bottling plant, it is “arbitrary.”

“We do feel that this is a taking of [the Weavers’] property,” Dudis said, noting that if the expansion is approved, his clients will likely take the matter to court.

Dudis also cautioned the district’s other property owners about the restrictions that would be in place if it is approved, such as the 80-acre minimal lot size, and suggested they consider that if they plan on selling a piece of their land to their children or subdividing at all.

John and Amy Waller proposed the expansion back in June, and both reiterated their support for the district at the Sept. 8 meeting. John Waller said the existing zoning district has worked well for 14 years, and it is worth preserving the wildlife habitat and agricultural uses.

“I don’t like to see all that land sacrificed on the altar of property rights,” Waller said.

The commission made no decisions other than to take all the public comment under consideration. It will make a decision at a later date, Holmquist said, but it hasn’t been scheduled. Otherwise, both Holmquist and Commissioner Gary Krueger had little to offer in comments, but Commissioner Phil Mitchell said he is struggling with the tension between private property rights and zoning.