In split vote, planning board rejects RV Park

The Flathead County Planning Board last week gave a negative recommendation for a proposed 21-space RV Park in rural Columbia Falls.

The vote was 4-2, with members Verdell Jackson and Greg Stevens voting against the negative recommendation.

The majority of the board had concerns about the layout of the park and safety concerns.

They also heard from a host of neighbors and leadership at Journey Church, all of whom opposed the plan.

The greatest concern among the residents and the church was safety.

Folks claimed that an RV Park adjacent to their neighborhood would mean more crime and potential harm to their children.

RV parks are “notorious for attracting violent crime and drugs, it’s a proven fact,” one resident told the board.

All told, they said, there were 23 kids in the neighborhood, neighbors said and some have special needs and come from traumatic backgrounds.

It’s a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone, residents said.

“We all look after each other,” one woman said.

By adding an RV park, it would more than double the number of residents, and they would be transients at that and possibly sex offenders.

“So the sex offender is coming into an RV park and walking up and down the road … you’re not going to know they’re there. And the majority of these children are little girls under the age of 10 and we need to protect these girls…” one woman said.

In short, residents simply said it was out of character with the neighborhood and wouldn’t be safe.

But planning board members noted the area isn’t zoned, so there are little regulations, outside of subdivision regs.

Member Buck Breckenridge noted later in the meeting that the RV Park met all the regulatory requirements, concerning sewer and water and other aspects.

“The thing that gives me heartburn is this is a very tight-knit community, for sure, and they will be impacted by this,” Breckenridge said.

But there was a safety aspect that was quantifiable, and that was RVs pulling out into highway traffic from the site.

Breckenridge noted Columbia Falls Schools had stopped picking up kids there because of highway safety concerns.

Planning board member Greg Stevens suggested a condition be a fence around the property, but board chair Jeff Larsen noted the county regulations can’t require one, it would be up to the applicant.

The board asked engineer Andy Evensen, who was representing owner Michael Faktor, if that would be amenable to him.

But Evensen was unable to get ahold of Faktor before the meeting ended.

The overall design of the park also came into question. Narrow Way is, as its name suggests, is narrow, and board member Gary Votapka noted that if an RV missed the entrance, they would end up in the either the church parking lot, trying to make a turn, or in the residential neighborhood.

In the end, Stevens made a motion to forward the application to the county commissioners with a positive recommendation. That failed 5-1, with Jackson voting against it.

Then Larsen made a motion to forward to commissioners with a negative recommendation, and Stevens and Jackson voted against that. That passed, 4-2.

Larsen noted, however, that the application could be amended before it went to the county commissioners, who have final say in the matter.