Council approves Meadow Lake Resort subdivision

The Columbia Falls City Council unanimously approved four conditional-use permits for three applicants during their Oct. 20 meeting.

All four CUPs had been given a unanimous recommendation by the Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board during their Oct. 14 meeting.

• Amended CUPs for a planned-unit development and a preliminary plat for the Glacier Village subdivision at Meadow Lake Resort were approved.

Glacier Village had been approved by the city in 2013, but after further review the developers decided the cost of ripping up infrastructure buried in 2009 to fit the new design was prohibitive, so they went back to an earlier approved design.

Two Meadow Lake stakeholders expressed concerns during the public hearing about parking, traffic, stormwater drainage and public notification. Parking and traffic issues at Meadow Lake Resort have existed for years, planning board members had noted.

The notification issue arose because the tax rolls city staff use to alert homeowners within 150 feet of a proposed project do not adequately take into account property owners in condominiums.

Pete Glee, who represented the master homeowner association for the entire resort, noted that his organization had asked the city to keep them notified back in January 2013 but they weren’t informed of the latest CUP request.

Bruce Lutz, of Sitescape Associates, speaking for the developer, pointed out that Glacier Village is not responsible for parking, traffic and stormwater issues outside the subdivision. He also said concerns about parking at the hotel would be addressed when a design for the hotel is actually finalized.

City planning consultant Eric Mulcahy said stormwater concerns would be addressed when the Montana Department of Environmental Quality reviews the preliminary plat. Stormwater must be kept on site, he said.

The council added to condition No. 5 a requirement for no parking signs along the subdivision’s internal road.

• A request from Randy Jones Construction for a conditional-use permit to build five 6-plex condominiums on Diane Road in Columbia Falls was approved.

The area is zoned CRA-1, which is the city’s multifamily zoning district, but a CUP is needed for buildings larger than a triplex.

Jones has already built seven similar buildings on Diane Road. Each individual condo unit will be provided two off-street parking spaces.

The 1.6-acre project was approved with 16 conditions. Jones will be required to finish construction of Diane Road before the first building permit is issued, he must make a $1,000 per building payment-in-lieu toward city parks, and a stormwater management plan must be completed.

Mayor Don Barnhart made it public that he does excavation work for Randy Jones Construction, but because only four of the seven city councilors were present, city attorney Justin Breck advised that it was legal for Barnhart to vote in order to maintain a quorum.

• An amended hardship conditional-use permit request from Joe and Shirley Voss for their property outside the city on South Hilltop Road was approved.

The couple received a hardship CUP for a mobile home in June 2002. The new application arose because of a recent land split.

Staff recommended approval with four conditions. The CUP must be renewed each year, and the mobile home must be removed when Voss’ father no longer lives there.