BLUAC approves project for prominent corner

The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee gave the thumbs-up to a proposal that would develop mixed use business, commercial and residential on the corner of Highway 35 and Holt Drive in Bigfork.

The project, still in its early design stages, would likely have retail space, office space and condominiums, as well as some sort of eatery on the lots that currently contain the old North Shore Lanes bowling alley and the two neighboring lots to the west.

The committee had to give a two-pronged approval that required some mental calisthenics to navigate the mash-up of acronyms and designations.

The first approval being sought was for a change in the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan land use map designation from "Urban Residential" on four of the five lots and "Commercial" on the remaining lot, to Village Resort Commercial (VRC) — a mixed-use designation in line with what the proposed project would entail.

Then, the board would need to decide on a recommendation for a zone change request for the five lots from B-3 and R-3 to Commercial Village Resort (CVR) — the definition of which matches exactly with the different ordered name on the land use map.

Flathead Planning and Zoning Office staff member Alex Hogle presented the project and in the end gave both applications a recommendation for approval from his office.

"It (VRC and CVR designations) appears to be an excellent match for the overall concept," he said.

The only location in Bigfork currently under CVR zoning is the downtown village in the immediate vicinity of Electric Avenue.

Public comment from neighbors and community members was unanimously in favor of the project, which would relocate access to the property from the convoluted entrance at Holt and Harbor View to a new entrance to be constructed on the western edge of the property.

Gary Simmons, who lives on Beach Road below the former bowling alley, said an upscale mixed use development would be a vast improvement.

"They addressed all of our concerns at that meeting," he said, referencing one of a handful of meetings the developers held with neighbors.

Dave Knauth, who lives on Harbor Heights, said "People at the bar and casino, (inside the bowling alley facility) they could whisper sweet nothings and we could hear it. I think these people have done a tremendous job."

Because a condominium-type development would not be subject to the often rigorous subdivision review process, the project will not come before the Bigfork board again, should it be passed at the Flathead County Planning Board and county commissioner levels. That lack of oversight gave some on the board pause, but Louise Tidwell, who is representing owner Arthur Lieberman on the project, said they would keep the community well-informed of their progress as the design and construction moves forward.

"This isn't the end of it," she said. "Even though we don't have a further legal responsibility to the community, we have an ethical responsibility to the community."

BLUAC voted 5-1 in favor of the land use map designation change, with Paul Guerrant being the lone dissenter. He spoke repeatedly about being uncomfortable with changing the map designations without more time allotted for community input. Planning Office Assistant Director BJ Grieve assured the board that legal notification responsibilities were being met.

On the second issue of whether to recommend the zone change, the board voted unanimously to recommend approval to the Planning Board.

The application will be heard by the Flathead County Planning Board at 6 p.m. on Dec. 17 in the Earl Bennett Building in Kalispell.

In other business at Tuesday night's meeting, the board heard a staff report for a proposed zoning variance on Cygnet Drive in Bigfork that essentially amounted to a boundary line adjustment, according to county planner Andrew Hagemeier.

The proposal was to allow a property owner to sell half an acre to his neighbor, but that sale would put the original lot in violation of the SAG-10 zoning, which requires a minimum 10-acre lot size.

Though the board said they realized most of the lots in that area were non-conforming lots, creating another one gave them pause.

Hagemeier said in his staff report that it was a "pretty shocking case for denial" because the situation did not meet the majority of the county's criteria for granting such a variance.

Guerrant and BLUAC member John Bourquin said that an easement could be written to accomplish virtually the same end, without having to create a non-conforming lot.

BLUAC voted 5-1 to recommend denial to the Flathead County Board of Adjustment, with Darrell Coverdell dissenting.

The applicant, Town Brown, was not present to represent himself.

The committee also voted unanimously to send a letter to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in support of a grant application submitted by the Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee.

BLUAC will not hold a meeting in December because of the holidays, and will meet next on Jan. 5 at 4 p.m.

For more information, visit http://bigforksteering.org