New subdivision regs approved

The Flathead County commissioners recently approved new subdivision regulations. Commissioners Joe Brenneman and Jim Dupont approved the regulations, which will go into effect April 1. Commissioner Dale Lauman was absent.

Public comment before the vote mostly concerned protecting the valley’s water aquifer. Linda Christiansen asked the commissioners to refrain from deleting language limiting a subdivision’s density to at least five acres per lot if groundwater in the area is less than eight feet below the surface.

“Everything we do on the soil surface, with precipitation will end up in the aquifer,” she said.

Brenneman said state law doesn’t allow the county to be more restrictive.

“The aquifer will be protected by public participation,” he said.

Mayre Flowers, executive director of Citizens for a Better Flathead, asked the commissioners to form another committee to review the regulations. The original committee consisted of representatives from the development community, she said. Flowers asked for a committee to be formed with water quality, agriculture and wildlife experts.

“What’s really missing is another perspective,” she said.

Dupont, however, called the regulations a “living document.”

“There certainly are issues, and there will always be issues,” he said. “We can revise it.”

Former county planning board chairman Jeff Larsen said he favored the document, but he wanted a few issues tweaked, including fire-safety standards.

The county adopted its current subdivision regulations in 2008. A committee spent 18 months reviewing those regulations and presented its recommended revisions to the commissioners in July. Some of the content changes in the document are the result of action by the 2009 Legislature.

One change provides the option to require a percentage of infrastructure improvements be in place prior to a developer requesting final plat and approval of a subdivisions improvement agreement. The revised county regulations require that at least 65 percent of a subdivision’s infrastructure, including roads, sidewalks, water and sewer lines, be completed before final plat is granted.

Another change will allow covenants, conditions and restrictions to be used on subdivisions, including road maintenance agreements, riparian protection, no-build zone proposals and wildland urban interface requirements. The county hasn’t allowed that in the past.