Subdivision does not belong in rural area

I'm proud of our valley this week, and I believe your readers should know why. On Sept. 10, the Flathead County Planning Board denied a proposed subdivision eight miles west of Whitefish on the Stillwater River that would chop up 40-plus acres into one-to-three acre lots.

Imagine that for a moment. Imagine the houses by the soccer fields on the corner of U.S. Highway 93 and Highway 40, and now imagine that kind of density all along U.S. 93 from Spencer Lake to Canada.

This area is rural. Agricultural. It is a major wildlife migration corridor. And the river, a tributary to Flathead Lake, is already on the impaired list under the Clean Water Act.

This is not a one-shot deal. There are major landowners (some of them born and raised here, I might add) who are connected to this proposed subdivision, and they are planning to fragment the Stillwater corridor into this sort of suburbia.

By Montana law, they only need to notify neighbors within 150 feet of their proposed subdivision. In a rural setting, this can mean that all of two people are contacted. This law has got to change.

Luckily, in this case, the neighbors rallied together, and in just five days they put together an opposition that was as compelling as it was real. Emotional, as it was dead on.

I saw people from a wide array of demographic backgrounds stand up and speak their truth, present photos and facts that had the planning board powerfully opposed to this inappropriate subdivision for this area.

Development happens, you might say. Why fight it? It could be worse. They won't listen to us anyway.

I'm not against development, nor were the people who fought this. But one-acre lots? How about 10-acre lots? This would be met with little-to-no opposition. The minute we approve one-acre lots, we are opening the door for a total character change for that area with grave impacts. We would be setting a precedent that we all know in our hearts is wrong for this sort of area.

This proposed subdivision would be in character with the neighborhoods within a mile of Whitefish. But eight? No way. The developers, in fact, went above and beyond what they were required to do by law in their proposal. But there is responsible development and irresponsible development, and as a community, we need to pay attention.

We have the opportunity and the charge to create the future of our piece of Montana —a stunning piece at that. The Flathead County Growth Policy clearly states that our goal is to preserve our open spaces and our watersheds for generations to come, and I am proud of our neighbors and proud of our county planning board for doing the right thing in this instance.

I dearly hope the Flathead County Commissioners will follow suit. And I urge us all to not only keep informed about development but to get together and have those vital conversations — to make neighborhood plans and implement zoning which will position ourselves for responsible growth.

We all know that the Flathead has been discovered, and if we sit back and let the developers have their way, we will be painfully sorry. Thank you to everybody who put their time and energy into fighting this subdivision. We can dream our future. Let's.

P.S. We specifically want to acknowledge Steve Qunell (running for Flathead County Commissioner) who assessed this information and who was willing to stand up at the meeting and deem this development, albeit a "good" development within a mile radius of Whitefish, simply not appropriate for rural Montana. Thank you, Steve. You've got our vote.

Laura Munson is a resident of Whitefish.