Review time shortened with county

The turnaround time for processing most applications submitted to the Flathead County Planning Office has been shortened by 15 days, county Planning Director BJ Grieve said.

The new processing timeline for applications before the Board of Adjustment is 30 working days. The timeline for Planning Board applications is 45 days from the time an application is submitted until a public hearing is held.

The previous timelines of 45 and 60 days for the reviews had been established during the county’s boom, he said, when the planning staff routinely reviewed far more applications than it does today.

County officials are aware of the desire for economic development and job creation in the county, he said, and shortening the timelines is a reflection of their desire to help.

“It appears we can do our work and shave out 15 days,” he said.

The processes still take multiple weeks, he said, because a lot of work has to occur between the time someone submits an application and a board holds a public hearing. That includes site visits, notifying adjacent property owners and other government agencies, research to prepare a staff report and preparing information for board members.

Generally, the shorter timeline affects conditional use permits and variance requests considered by the Board of Adjustment and plan amendments, minor subdivisions, planned unit developments and zone changes before the Planning Board.

The shorter review times don’t apply to major subdivisions, Grieve said, because of state laws that govern tasks and timelines and the requirement for a completeness and sufficiency review.