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NEWS
County Rejects Egan Slough District Expansion
Adding acreage to district could have had adverse e ect on proposed, controversial water-bottling plant in Creston
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BY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
Eliciting a shower of boos and jeers from a packed room, the Flathead County Commission voted unanimously against expanding the Egan Slough Zoning District on Nov. 21.
The proposed expansion would have added 530 acres to the existing 1,150-acre district, but the project took on greater intensity due to the dampening e ect it might have had on a proposed, controversial water-bottling plant in Creston.
Earlier this year, it came to light that Creston resident Lew Weaver intended to build and run the Montana Artesian Water Co., a bottled-water venture proposed on his farmland. The company would be able to pump 710 acre-feet of water annu- ally from an underground aquifer near Egan Slough along the Flathead River, or roughly 1.2 billion 20-ounce water bottles.
According to the permits sought, that would mean 140,000 bottles per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the scope of which prompted considerable backlash from neighbors.
In September, the commission took public comment on the expansion, which ran more than an hour with more than 40 people speaking in favor. The expansion would have designated 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.
But on Nov. 21, Commissioner Gary Krueger said most of the existing land within the zoning district is already cut up into parcels smaller than 80 acres, save one or two parcels.
Krueger told the dozens gathered that he would vote against the expansion because the Flathead County Growth Policy has a process laid out for such projects, within the section on neigh- borhood plans. This process is used in Part-2 zoning, meaning that initiated by the county.
The group seeking the expansion should have held organi- zational meetings, he said, which ought to have been publicly advertised and noticed. Then, when determining the baseline conditions for their district, more public comment and open meetings would be necessary, he said.
“These meetings haven’t taken place,” Krueger said, adding that the only public meeting held on this matter was the Sep- tember hearing in front of the commission.
The district also hasn’t prepared an economic plan, Krueger said, which is part of the process. In his estimation, Krueger said, the neighbors started at Step One — public interest — and then went immediately to implementation and adoption, skipping all of the steps in between.
“I nd the process that we’ve gone through to be incom- plete,” Krueger said. “This isn’t how these districts should be created.”
Krueger also said he doubted agriculture preservation is the driving force behind the expansion.
“I have some problems with the intentions,” Krueger said.
The Egan Slough Zoning District is the only one in Flathead County created with Part-1 zoning. Part-1, or citizen-initiated, zoning can be created when 60 percent of the a ected real prop- erty owners within a proposed district petition for it. Instead of the county planning o ce drafting up the plan, this comes straight from the residents. According to state law, the only legal standard for creating Part-1 zoning is having 60 percent of the a ected residents agree on it “whenever the public interest or convenience may require.” State law allows the county com- mission to approve these zoning districts, along with a speci c commission to oversee it.
Krueger and Commissioner Pam Holmquist said in inter- views after the hearing that Flathead County is no place for Part-1 zoning, calling it one of the “worst laws” on the state books. Krueger and Holmquist said they have representational issues with the commission created to oversee the district,
Gary Krueger, left, and fellow Flathead County Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Phil Mitchell discuss the Egan Slough zoning district on Nov. 21. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
because it is made up of three county commissioners, two elected o cials, and two people not living within the district.
Holmquist said voting to expand the district creates a poten- tial con ict of interest for the commission, given that they sit on the district’s board.
The minimum land requirement is 40 acres for such a zon- ing district, which Krueger said during the hearing could cre- ate pockets of these little neighborhoods all over the county.
“We could have so many of these small neighborhoods that we couldn’t function as a zoning o ce,” he said.
At the Nov. 21 hearing, Holmquist said she couldn’t support the expansion because the 80-acre minimum is already incon- sistent with many of the properties, and because it seems to single out a property owner. In this case, it would be Weaver, whose permits for the plant are still under scrutiny at the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
“Most of all, it seemed to go back to trying to attempt to stop an individual property owner from going through a process,” Holmquist said.
Commissioner Phil Mitchell said he struggled with his deci- sion on this matter, but ultimately decided his duty is to all of Flathead County, not just a neighborhood.
Deputy County Attorney Tara Fugina prompted the com- mission to discuss the public’s concerns about environmental impacts should the district stay the same, including the possi- ble e ects on its rural character, water, air, and noise.
“I don’t see how expanding or not is going to a ect it,” Mitch- ell said.
Krueger said agriculture is already an industrial industry, with semi trucks traveling those same roads to pick up the har- vest. He also said he didn’t believe Weaver intended on running his bottling plant 24 hours a day, but that the state determines permits on a 24-hour scale.
“I don’t think that Mr. Weaver’s water-bottling plant is ever going to send (more than 100) loads a day,” Krueger said, starting the chorus of boos from the crowd.
Holmquist agreed.
“I don’t believe that this would change what’s out there in any way,” she said, as more jeers cascaded down, causing Holm- quist to tell the room she would clear it if any more interrup- tions occurred.
After they voted 3-0 not to expand the district, the booing continued, with shouts of “terrible,” “shame,” and one par- ticular person sarcastically congratulating Holmquist on her recent re-election.
Holmquist responded by telling the crowd they had four minutes to clear the room before the commission started on
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its next agenda item.
mpriddy@ atheadbeacon.com
NOVEMBER 23, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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