Flathead County Commission voted unanimously to add a new business zone designation to the Flathead County Zoning Regulations.
The zone, technically called B-2HG but referred to as a greenbelt zone, was approved on July 27. It designates a business district along a primary or secondary highway, following specific mitigation requirements including tiered building heights and enhanced signage and lighting standards.
There is also a greenbelt requirement, with prescribed percentages of the property to be dedicated for setbacks and bike path easements. At minimum, the zone calls for the first 40 feet of greenbelt from the front property line to be developed and maintained with berms, rockwork, irrigated trees, grass and shrubs.
Several landowners, known as Noonan et al, initially requested the new zoning designation for 79 acres along U.S. Highway 93 north of Kalispell between Ponderosa Lane and Autumn Court.
In May, the county commission passed a resolution of intent to add greenbelt zoning to the regulations. A 30-day comment period followed. Citizens for a Better Flathead protested the new zone, claiming it would create strip-mall sprawl in the valley.
Mayre Flowers, executive director for CBF, said the zone would be counterproductive to attempts at driving commerce to the Flathead’s city centers.
BJ Grieve, Flathead County’s planning and zoning director, disagreed, noting that adding a new zoning option does not instantly create a new zone.
In order to overturn the commission’s May resolution of intent to pass the zone, 40 percent of the affected landowners would have to protest. This number only included landowners in zoned areas.
During the July 27 meeting, Grieve said the planning office determined that roughly 2,800 letters, emails, postcards and other forms of protest would be necessary to overturn the resolution. It received 900.
Before the vote, Commissioner Pam Holmquist said she read the bulk of protest letters and found that many of them were based on “inaccuracies and scare tactics.”
The greenbelt zone is not mandatory, she said, adding later that it is actually more restrictive than some other business zone designations.
“(It’s) just another zone businesses can use to zone their property,” Holmquist said.
Commissioner Dale Lauman agreed with Holmquist’s assessment, and said he did not believe there would be a rush on the planning office from landowners seeking to zone their land.
Commissioner Jim Dupont added that he had heard some “scary” information about the zone. He also said that expansion in the Flathead Valley is inevitable.
“It’s nice to say ‘We don’t want to grow any more,’” Dupont said. “We’re going to grow and that’s it.”
There are 27 permitted uses, including coffee stands, delis, hotels, offices, quasi-public buildings and restaurants. Conditional uses, of which there are 36 and would need a special permit from the planning office, include bars, laundromats, any building greater than 3,000 square feet, rental service stores and yards and theaters.
The greenbelt zone would not apply to cities or to other planning jurisdictions, including the so-called doughnut around Whitefish.
For the full text of the B-2HG zone, visit www.flathead.mt.gov/planning_zoning for a digital version of the zoning regulations.