Swan Valley residents have until this Sunday to comment on a new neighborhood plan – the first time the planning document has been updated in nearly 30 years.

Efforts to update the plan originally began in 2008 with a new draft put together in 2018, but any progress was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the plan was never approved. In September 2022, Utah-based developer POWDR sought to demolish and rebuild most of Holland Lake Lodge, a rustic lakeside resort south of Condon, upgrading its capacity from 50 to 156 overnight guests. Concerned Swan Valley residents immediately – and successfully – began organizing against the proposed development in an effort to preserve the valley’s rural character.

In October 2023, the lodge went back up for sale, and now rests in the hands of new Utah-based developers who have promised to operate within the lodge’s existing footprint.

In November 2023, the Swan Valley Community Council appointed members to a planning committee tasked with the goal of looking into “land use issues that matter most to the community and explore which planning tools might help address them.” In May 2024, the community council approved the committee’s suggestion to begin revising the 1996 Swan Valley Neighborhood Plan.

“While Holland Lake Lodge remains a tourism hub, it’s future isn’t clear and many questions remain about what its future holds,” the new plan’s draft executive summary reads. “There are widespread concerns that resort development could emerge to transform the valley.”

I’m Zoë Buhrmaster, here to transform your idea of neighborhood plans.

Since that decision to pursue revising the plan, planning committee members worked with Missoula County staff to examine existing conditions in the valley and spearheaded a variety of community outreach efforts including a questionnaire. From those efforts they determined the top three priorities of Swan Valley residents, noting they’ve changed little over the years:

• Preserving rural character with low-density housing and strong community volunteerism;
• Protecting clean air, water and healthy forests with abundant wildlife; and
• Maintaining access to public lands for hiking, hunting, fishing, camping and non-motorized recreation.

While the neighborhood plan is a non-regulatory document, meaning it cannot prohibit or deny development, the plan and its required future land-use map serve as a guide for growth policies to help make decisions that reflect the community’s values. In Montana, this is a requirement – growth policies have to reflect community priorities, reviewed every five years to ensure compliance.

Planning committee members noted that one way the 1996 plan failed to make this work was its lack of a follow-through.

“The map provides the legal foundation for any future land use regulations, such as zoning,” the new draft executive summary reads. “Any zoning adopted must be based on the future land use map. Although the 1996 plan included a future land use map, zoning was never implemented.”

To help ensure that the new land-use plan is used in determining future development, the planning committee is considering three land-use proposals.

Option A: recommends developing a “highly selective zoning ordinance that regulates only new large-scale commercial and industrial, resorts and telecommunications towers.”

Option B: recommends developing a broader zoning ordinance that includes option A, with added guidance for new residential development. It recommends establishing a “minimum lot size on the county-assigned land-use categories of 10 acres (rural low-density residential), 40 acres (open and resource lands), or 5 acres (clustered rural residential development). Each land-use category would allow one new home and one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per lot if state and county septic, water, riparian, and slope requirements are met. Outbuildings (garages, shops, sheds, greenhouses, etc.) would not be affected.”

Option C: does not recommend zoning or any other enforcement mechanism for the neighborhood plan, leaving the new plan as non-binding advisory statements only.

Swan Valley residents have until the close of business on Sunday, August 31 to provide comment on the plan and zoning recommendations. Comments can be provided on the project website here.

If passed by the community council, the plan and its recommendations will be presented before the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board and subsequently the Missoula Board of County Commissioners for approval.

Now, onto the rest of the Daily Roundup.