GPI RV Park gets a green light from county planning staff, with a host of conditions
The Flathead County planning department has found that a proposed Glacier Park Inc. RV park and rental cabin facility meets county standards under the Canyon Area Land Use Regulatory System.
The system is a set of standards for development in the canyon region near Glacier National Park.
Having said that, county planner Kari Nielsen suggests 32 conditions be placed on the RV park, including, dark-sky friendly lighting, bear-proof garbage cans, signage that doesn’t exceed 20 square feet, height restrictions on buildings and approvals by state and county officials for a public water and sewer supply system among others.
The GPI plan is for 102 recreational vehicle spaces in addition to 25 rental cabins on a 178-acre forested tract of land just west of the main village site. The developed space is about 26 acres. The rest is open space, some of which accommodates the sewage treatment facility and spray fields for the sewage treatment plant.
Nielsen’s report does look at traffic that would be generated by the facility. It estimates that on average, about 361 trips per day will result from the development. The bottleneck arises when traffic merges at the intersection of River Bend Drive and the Going-to-the-Sun Road. A traffic study found that, on average, the intersection rates a “A/B” level of service during average conditions, but that drops down to a “B/C” during peak hours.
By contrast, the intersection between U.S. Highway 2 and the Going-to-the-Sun Road rates a “B/C” during average traffic volumes and a “D” during peak.
Improving the River Bend intersection is largely up to the Montana Department of Transportation, which maintains the Going-to-the-Sun Road from the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 to the Glacier Park boundary, Nielsen said in an interview last week.
She noted MDT didn’t comment on the plan — at least not to date. One option might be to put a right-hand turn lane at the intersection, which could ease some traffic. She said the planning department looked at access from Sloan Lane to Belton Stage Road, but she noted the lane is private and narrow at the Belton Stage end and would require easements. In addition, there are no crossing guards across the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks — it’s just an at-grade crossing.
Nielsen said the RV has drawn a lot of interest from the public, with traffic being the greatest concern.
If the plan is approved, GPI would like to begin construction by mid-fall of this year, said GPI vice president Ron Cadrette.
He said there are no plans to keep the cabins open in the winter months. He also said there is no room on the site to build an additional lodge.
The Flathead County Planning Board will hold a hearing on the project at 6 p.m. April 12 at its offices at 40 11th St. West, Conference Room 200 in Kalispell.