City will lose ‘doughnut’ planning under new state law

The City of Columbia Falls will soon lose its “doughnut.” The doughnut is an extraterritorial planning jurisdiction that allows the city to have say in developments outside the city limits.

The doughnut has come into prominent play in the last year or so, as the city has seen development proposals both to the north and to the east.

But under Senate Bill 382, city planning will take a definite turn in the coming years as the city begins to implement the state law designed to encourage and even mandate, higher density developments.

But the city has long had a say on developments within its doughnut.

For example, in January, the city gave the green light to a subdivision at Meadow Lake Resort after some contentious meetings with the public.

Then east of the river, the city council rejected a high density subdivision last summer.

But under SB382, the city will only have a say in a development outside the city if the developer seeks city services, like sewer and water, in which case the city would annex the property.

Other subdivisions that don’t need city services, would go before the county planning board, explained city attorney Justin Breck.

Some city councilmembers predicted that if the county had a say in development east of the river, for example, it would have already happened.

Losing extraterritorial jurisdiction is nothing new in Flathead County — Whitefish lost its doughnut years ago after a spat with county commissioners.

SB382 has a of other implications for development inside the city limits. For one, it looks to “front load” the planning process.

The new law requires that cities create a land use map and then an overlay of zoning regulations subject to public review, both through a planning commission and a the city council.

But once the map and the zoning regulations are in place, public comment is limited, save for an appeal process, whereby objectors appeal to the commission, then the city council and then, ultimately, district court if they see fit.

The map and the zoning regulations, by law are expected to be good for 20 years, though they can be amended at the request of a developer or landowner.

The city council will begin the initial process of taking a deeper dive of the implications Senate Bill 382 at a workshop at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 11. The public is invited to attend. At workshops, the city can take no formal action, but it will meet with city planner Eric Mulcahy, city manager Susan Nicosia and Breck on further implications of the bill.

For one, the city will need to eventually set up a planning commission, as the city-county planning board will be no more under the new law.