UPDATED: LNPC finishes up work on plan

After more than two years of work, the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan Committee is celebrating completing their work on the plan.

The committee met Monday, Jan. 25, to go over the revisions that have been made to the plan since the workshop with the Flathead County Planning Board in October. The committee then voted send it on to the Lakeside Community Council, which met Tuesday.

LCC approved the revisions but opted to hang on to the plan for another month until members have a chance to review the final version in its entirety. All this means that the plan could be turned over and in the hands of the county to begin its formal review process by March.

This doesn't mean the plan is approved, but the work of the committee may be completed. It will still have to go through public hearings and get a recommendation of approval from the planning board and final approval from the county commissioners.

"I want this committee to say, 'We are done,'" committee member Barb Miller said. "If not, then we better have a list of things we need to do."

A group of Lakeside and Somers property owners still have a pending lawsuit and request for an injunction to stop the plan filed in the Flathead District Court. A hearing on the suit has been continued pending the results of an investigation of the Lakeside plan and the process under which it was developed. The Flathead County Commissioners were scheduled to release the results of the investigation Wednesday. (Check back on westshorenewsonline.com for updates.)

The judge in the case, district judge Stewart Stadler, has said that the committee could continue working, but the planning board could not schedule a public hearing until the judgment has been made. Miller said that even if the plan has to sit for awhile before the hearing, this will only give the public more opportunity to review it and submit written comment.

LNPC had previously discussed recommending that the LCC open up the plan for another public comment period, but on the advice of county planner Andrew Hagemeier has opted not to.

"There will be ample opportunity for public comment going forward," Miller said.

The committee did go over a number of additional revisions last week at its Jan. 18 meeting.

The committee looked at proposals by resident Steve Rosso, which he said were aimed at making the suburban-mixed designation less specific to just the Lakeside Club development.

These included some language adjustments in the description of commercial development in that designation and changing some of the other areas around Lakeside Club coming out from the town center and U.S. Highway 93 to suburban mixed.

The committee agreed to the commercial language with some minor adjustment and agreed to change a triangle of land along Highway 93 that had previously been rural residential to suburban mixed, like the land surrounding it.

They did not change the designation for areas to the west of the Lakeside Club that are currently rural residential. Committee member Trevor Schaefer said the initial reason for not making the land suburban mixed had to do with a lack of infrastructure needed for a higher density in that area.

The committee also looked at the natural resource section from the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan to see if any additional language could be adopted. Chair Debbie Spaulding, who was not present at the meeting, had sent highlighted recommendations.

The committee did chose to include a few general statements and goals, including language about where industrial development is acceptable, but for the most part said their section seemed to be fairly thorough.

Ulrich said he was not sure how much more language about natural resources and wildlife could be "beefed up," suggesting that Bigfork could be more rigid because the area is zoned and Lakeside is not.

"The ideal document will never get passed," Ulrich said. "There are too many extremists out there on every side of the fence. All I'm hoping is to get something as comprehensive as possible."

The committee also received some recommendations from Hagemeier's meeting with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. More was expected to be discussed Monday when Hagemeier was to be present.

Representatives from FWP attended a previous committee meeting this month for the first time. The committee had not previously heard from FWP in its more than two years working on the plan despite attempts to contact the agency for comment.

"I'm extremely disappointed this is coming late in the game," Miller said of the suggestions from FWP. "I feel like we've covered so many of these already."

To address the issue, Miller said if the wildlife map created by FWP encompasses the whole area, the plan should instead just include a blanket statement that wildlife is a concern in the district, referencing maps on the FWP Web site and encouraging the use of the agency's "Living with Wildlife" document. The committee did agree to add FWP and other resource agencies to a list of groups the Lakeside Community Council should meet with annually and to encourage developers to meet with FWP early in the process.