Planning board tables Kapoor zone change request
The 12 acre parcel already has a home and other structures on it. But the Wilkinson Trust, which owns the land to the north, said they would not sell to the Florida developer.
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
The Flathead County Planning Board Wednesday night tabled a zone change request by Location Ventures on a plot of land between the Flathead River and Columbia Heights.
The company, which owns the parcel across the highway from the Big Sky Waterslide Park, is asking the county to change the zoning from SAG—10 (10 acre minimum lot size) to R-1.
R-1 allows up to one home per acre, but critics said that with state law changes in the last Legislature, that number is actually 24.
Several neighbors spoke against the zone change and one letter in particular — from resident and neighbor Nicole Bond — caused the planning board to table the matter.
Bond, who said she was a previous certified planner herself, gave the board a letter that found several factual errors with the county planning board’s staff report.
Perhaps most consequential was a previous attempt for a high density development in the area back in 1987.
Then landowner Jack Petty wanted to put an RV Park on his property that is now the Wilkinson Trust.
The county denied the request, as it was part of the Two Bridges Zoning District, which was formally created in the late 1970s to preserve the agricultural land and the views in the area.
Petty sued the county over the zoning district in 1987, claiming it was illegal, but the state Supreme Court upheld the validity of the district in 1988.
The Location Ventures request, is basically the same situation, Bond claimed, and amounts to spot zoning.
She also claimed that there were other factual errors in the county staff report, which claims the property is adjacent to the Columbia Falls City planning jurisdiction — it is not.
Others also spoke out against the zone change request. They raised concerns about people safely accessing the property because of the high traffic volumes on Highway 2, impacts to wildlife and the viewshed.
But Mark Rohweder, a civil engineer with KLJ Engineering, who spoke of behalf of Location Ventures, said the development wouldn’t likely impact the viewshed, because it’s below Highway 2. He also noted it has no wetlands and did not have high groundwater.
He also said it would provide additional housing for the area.
In addition, he said said a traffic study would be completed when an actual subdivision plan is in place. As far as sewage and water, he said the development could implement community sewer and water systems, which would reduce the impact to the water table.
But critics note that the intent of the Two Bridges Zoning District has long been to preserve open space and a rural lifestyle.
“The intent was to keep this open space as ag land,” said Shirley Folkwein of the Upper Flathead Neighborhood Association.
“It simply doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood,” said resident Gary Hall. “Maybe SAG-5, but not R-1.”
SAG-5 would allow the lot to be split in two with two separate homes, but not 24.
The planning board closed the public hearing. No one spoke in favor of the plan outside of the applicant.
Rishi Kapoor, the CEO of Location Ventures, did not attend the hearing. He is under investigation in the company’s home state of Florida by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI for allegedly paying the Mayor of Miami as a “consultant” $10,000 a month, the Miami Herald reported earlier this month.
In exchange, Kapoor allegedly received expedited permits for projects in that city, the newspaper’s investigation revealed.
The planning board expects to make a recommendation to county commissioners on the zone change request at its next meeting. Commissioners have final say in the matter.