Draft plan almost done

After more than a year of intensive study, countless volunteer hours and an aggressive meeting schedule, the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan Committee is nearing completion of their draft revision of the neighborhood plan.

LNPC secretary and project manager Barb Miller said the committee will likely be ready to pass the revised plan on to members of the Lakeside Community Council one week before this month's council meeting. That schedule puts the entire draft revision, a 160-page document, in the hands of council members in less than two weeks.

"It's now at the planning and zoning office so they can do a walk through with it," Miller said. "They're supposed to come back with suggestions and concerns for us to make next week.

"There will be a release notice that will go out to everyone on the GIS tax rolls. It will notify everyone that the document is there, where they can find a copy of it and how they can make comments. The document will be available online on our Web site, and several printed copies will be placed in the (West Shore) library and at the planning and zoning office."

Miller added that, if anyone is unable to review the document at any of the locations provided, they can contact Andrew Hagemeier at the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office. Hagemeier will then determine a way to get that individual a copy.

Four collection boxes will be set up throughout Lakeside for people to drop off their comments once they have had a chance to read through the draft revision. Collection boxes will be located at both Flathead and Glacier banks, the West Shore Community Library and Blacktail Grocery.

Miller encouraged residents to attend the April 28 meeting of the Lakeside council will open for comments. However, comments will likely be limited in scope until council members release the document to the public and residents are able to review it.

"I think the committee as a whole feels very, very good about it," LNPC chairwoman Debbie Spaulding said. "There is a lot of research behind it and it contains a lot of good facts. There's a wealth of information about the community, which the committee has collected and put in the plan. People are going to find it very interesting I think, just to find out more about what's Lakeside is all about.

Spaulding said she and the other committee members have been working on the revision diligently for a year and a half, adding that the past three months have been packed with weekly meetings and draft work.

"All of these have been public meetings and have all been publicized," she said. "We've had quite a few non-committee members come. We've also had three non-committee members - Charlses Lapp, Dave DeGrandpre, and Steve Rosso-who have really been helping us with advice and support, since they have a lot of experience with land use."

One item of contention among the group was the land use designation for the property on which the Eagle's Crest subdivision was approved by Flathead County Commissioners. The property was the only section that could not be given the same land use designation as all the property surrounding it because of the density approved for the project.

Following the instruction given by Hagemeier during one of the meetings, the committee found a land use designation that would work and voted to 8-1 to approve the designation, with committee member Bruce Young being the sole objector.

Young did not believe the density to be appropriate and pointed out that Eagle's Crest Phases 5-9 are presently in litigation to overturn the commissioner's approval of the preliminary plat. Young contended that neither the soils nor the slopes of the subject property are capable of supporting the approved density.

In a later meeting, Young pushed to have wording added to the land-use designation in the interest of "full disclosure," which would state that the preliminary plat for phases 5-9 of Eagle's Crest are pending a decision by the court. However, Eagle's Crest partner and LNPC member Trevor Schaeffer said he felt such a notice would single out a individual landowner.

Hagemeier concurred and recommended that if the committee believed the note to be necessary, that it be placed in the section pertaining to Eagle's Crest. Although other options were considered, including the withdrawal of Eagle's Crest from the neighborhood plan, the committee voted 5-1 last week in favor of Hagemeier's suggestion.

There is a process currently in place for amending the plan if the density of phases 5-9 changes in the future.