Council questions emergency road plan

By RICHARD HANNERS

Whitefish Pilot

Winter Sports Inc.'s preliminary plat request for the Big Mountain Village was approved by the Whitefish City Council on Monday 5-1, with councilor Velvet Phillips-Sullivan voting in opposition.

Both the city planning department and the city-county planning board had recommended approval for the 11-lot plan with 18 conditions, but WSI encountered additional questions from the council about its emergency egress road.

"There should be no surprises here, but I always get surprised when I bring something here," said Big Mountain CEO Fred Jones, frustrated by the council's questions about a secondary egress route through Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. land to the Iron Horse subdivision.

Councilor Cris Coughlin proposed a 19th condition requiring the gate to the emergency road be left unlocked, and councilor John Muhlfeld asked for improvements to the road.

"We won't have a secondary egress route if it's to be unlocked," Jones said. "Iron Horse and Stoltze don't want people driving loose back there."

Jones said the emergency plan for Big Mountain in event of a wildfire calls for people to congregate in safe zones on the mountain and to stay off the egress road, which is intended for emergency vehicles that can't come up Big Mountain Road.

"We don't want the road plugged with people — that's the point," Jones said.

Muhlfeld claimed the egress road has 8-10 percent grades in places as well as drainage issues.

"I thought we had discussed this issue," Jones said, referring to approval of the Big Mountain Neighborhood Plan last year.

Jones said WSI "needs a target we can hit," saying the egress road "is not a paved road to utopia."

"Every time we come down here, it's a new issue," he said. "It's frustrating."

Councilor Nick Palmer agreed with Jones.

"Why should the road be open?" he asked. "Why are we twisting ourselves into pretzels over this?"

Councilors Coughlin and Shirley Jacobson, however, said they understood WSI agreed to deal with the egress road issue when WSI brought forward their neighborhood plan, but nothing about the road's condition was in the village preliminary plat request.

Condition 19 was modified so the road will receive annual inspections by Whitefish and Big Mountain fire personnel, and suggested repairs or upgrades will be made to the road.

Condition 5 was also amended to require a pedestrian and skier circulation plan for the village, which will be constructed on several levels on existing parking lots. WSI must also show how skier parking lost to development in the village will be replaced by new parking down by the Day Lodge.

Each phase of village development will need site plan approval prior to start of construction, and any plans for relocation or modification of creeks must be reviewed by the Flathead Conservation District.

Stream restoration plans must also be submitted to the city planning department for review, and annual water quality monitoring reports must be submitted to the city public works department. Trails must not be built with impervious surfaces, and all lighting must be dark skies compliant.

Development is not allowed within a 50-foot corridor along Haskill Creek, although consultant Bruce Anderson suggested keeping portions of Base Creek — an ephemeral stream originating in underground French drains — inside culverts to protect water quality.