After more than four years of work, the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan is finally set to become a reality.
Flathead County Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday morning to adopt a resolution to make the plan part of the county growth policy.
The resolution kicks off a 30-day comment period in which written comment on the plan will be accepted. At the end of that period, the commissioners can send the plan back to the Flathead County Planning Board if they believe major changes are needed. Otherwise, they’ll likely adopt the plan as is or with some amendments.
It’s the final leg of what has been a marathon process.
Work on the plan started in 2004, with the Bigfork Steering Committee, Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee and community members conducting a community survey, holding more than 120 public meetings and working through the plan piece-by-piece in the ensuing years. By April 2008 the plan had made its way to the Flathead County Planning Board, where it remained for nearly a year before receiving a unanimous recommendation for approval from the board in March.
Public comment at the actual commissioner’s hearing Thursday was closed, but a handful of Bigfork residents showed up early to speak during the daily open comment period.
Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee Chairwoman Shelley Gonzales thanked the Bigfork community for what she said was a “Herculean effort,” and encouraged the commissioners to adopt the plan.
“Predictability is what brings quality development to a community,” she said. “The Bigfork plan as presented to you achieves that goal.”
Gonzales raised questions about two changes the planning board made, saying she felt a land use recommendation rewritten by the board was ambiguous and muddied the intent of the plan. “These are not regulatory documents,” she said. “We want that to be clear.”
She also suggested the commission replace a requirement for reclamation bonds that the board removed.
Bigfork business owner Bill Myers, who has repeatedly spoken out against the plan throughout the process, was the lone dissenting voice at Thursday’s meeting. Myers called the plan the work of Bigfork’s “good taste society” and said it would limit property rights.
“Many retirees and other people have nothing better to do than tell other people what they can and can’t do with their property,” he said.
Commissioners, though, commended Bigfork residents’ hard work and expressed support for a plan that Commissioner Dale Lauman jokingly likened to “the size of a Sears and Roebuck catalog.”
“You’re never going to have a document that makes everybody happy,” Commissioner Joe Brenneman said. “It’s the American way.”