Land Trust, others, cry foul over developer’s claims of ‘partnering’

A host of organizations say they are not working with a developer on a newly proposed subdivision east of the Flathead River, despite what developers claimed in their application to the city.

Location Ventures, which is proposing a 180-unit high density subdivision just east of the Flathead River and south of the Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area claimed it was working with Flathead Land Trust, Glacier to Gateway Trails and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“Location Ventures is currently working with local partners, including Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Flathead Land Trust, and Gateway 2 Glacier (Trails) to explore the best ways to incorporate wildlife health and movement into current site designs, including a potential wildlife corridor and ecosystem-oriented landscaping,” the developers claimed in their application to the city.

The development calls for just under 8 units per acre — a mix of apartments and attached townhomes, all of them rentals.

All three organizations said they did meet with developers, but they refute the notion that they’re working with them.

“We can’t comment for or against developments,” Flathead Land Trust Executive Director Paul Travis said.

Travis and his staff had a courtesy meeting with the developers, where the developers asked ways to mitigate impacts to wildlife.

But to say they were “working with” the Land Trust is a “mischaracterization,” of the meeting, Travis said.

Developers even asked the Trust to sign a statement saying they were working together, but Travis said he refused to do so.

Travis noted the best mitigation to preserve wildlife habitat and migration corridors in that area would be to not develop the land at all.

Elk and deer, for example, regularly migrate from the 700-acre wildlife management area to the north to the 22-acre site where the subdivision is proposed.

The Gateway to Glacier Trails organization also said they weren’t working with the developer.

“It was recently brought to our attention that Gateway to Glacier Trails was listed as a “local partner” on a development proposal for high-density housing south of the Bad Rock Canyon Wildlife Management Area. This is a mischaracterization and misleading language as we are not a local partner in this proposed development and were not aware that term would be used in the application,” Jeremiah Martin, president of the Gateway board said. “As a nonprofit, we remain neutral in our opinion of this and any other proposed developments, and will keep our mission of building and maintaining trails to serve our community at the forefront.”

The developer, however, went so far as to include a “Glacier Gateway” trail in its plan submitted to the city.

FWP spokesman Dillon Tabish said the agency also had informal meetings with the developer, but like the other organizations, there is no partnering. In fact FWP raises significant concerns about the project, noting it’s only 525 feet south of the Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area, which is designed to be a wildlife haven.

“This area provides a movement corridor for wildlife, including deer and elk that winter to the north in the Bad Rock Canyon WMA. Numerous studies indicate that development in areas like this fragment habitat and associated human and domestic pet activity further impacts the surrounding area,” FWP said in a letter to the city. “The proposed project area is also heavily used by a resident elk herd. This parcel is part of a continuous movement corridor for elk, which cross Highway 2 at this location to access larger tracts of available habitat. This lot is a critical connection for elk moving north-south along the river corridor and through the remaining bands of open space and forest. The loss of this habitat may significantly alter movement patterns. Cumulatively, higher density development on this parcel and surrounding parcels will displace elk and eventually block this wildlife movement corridor.”

FWP also raises concerns about bears, garbage disposal and the impacts of that many people potentially recreating in the Wildlife Management Area and creating unauthorized trails in it.

FWP also suggests significant setbacks from water and wetlands.

“FWP recommends a minimum of 250 feet of vegetated buffer plus 50 additional feet of building setback from the ordinary high-water mark from rivers, and a minimum of 100 feet of vegetated buffer plus 30 additional feet of building set back from all wetlands, ponds, and intermittent streams. Total building setback at least 300 feet from rivers and 130 feet from wetlands and intermittent streams,” they say in their letter.

The development does call for about 55% open space, but that includes a pond and wetlands.

Based on the maps of the proposed development, it looks like many of the homes and apartments as well as associated roads would block existing wildlife travel routes or simply build over habitat altogether. As planned, a road would cut the site in half.

Over the years the Land Trust has conserved more than 12,000 acres in the Flathead Valley, including being the driving force behind the conservation of the 700-plus acre Bad Rock Wildlife Management Area, which runs from just north of the Flathead River Bridge to the House of Mystery.

Recently, The Land Trust has also recently brokered conservation easements along the Stillwater River, including more than 500-acres of farmland. In addition, it recently negotiated an easement on more than 300 acres of land near Polson.

But the Land Trust doesn’t buy land, Travis noted. It works with willing landowners who want to place conservation easements on their property. The easements protect the land from subdivisions and other land use practices.

Chris Averill, with Strategies 360, a public relations firm representing the developers claimed the statement wasn’t meant to suggest the agencies were endorsing the project.

“They were local groups we found credible and were willing to engage with their expertise,” he said. “We don’t want to claim they were endorsing the project.”

In a followup email Averill said the developer struck the “partnering” language from its application.

This story has been updated to correct the correct name of the Gateway to Glacier Trails organization.