In spite of the planning board's rejection…

Commissioners give Forman Road subdivision green light

POLSON - The Lake County Commissioners voted last Thursday to grant preliminary approval for a 12-lot, two-phase subdivision proposal on Forman Road in the Valley View area southwest of Polson.

The commissioners said yes to the subdivision despite the fact that the Lake County Planning Board had turned the proposal down twice and numerous Valley View area residents have expressed their opposition to the project.

This decision marks the second time in the past few months that the commissioners have decided to not follow the planning board's recommendation.

They recently granted preliminary approval to the contentious 26-lot Northridge subdivision planned for the northwestern shore of Lake Mary Ronan, after the planning board had twice rejected the project.

Commissioners Dave Stipe and Paddy Trusler voted to approve the Forman Road project, with Commissioner Mike Hutchin abstaining from voting due to a potential conflict of interest.

"We very much respect how the planning board votes," Stipe told the gathering last Thursday. "But we don't always agree."

He estimated that the commissioners choose to not follow the board's recommendations about three or four times a year.

"The planning board doesn't have to look at the legal, technical aspects, such as property rights," Trusler said. "It's not that we don't agree with the planning board, it's that we have to look at other aspects. The commissioners' decision is binding. The commissioners get sued, not the planning board."

Stipe added that "we've been sued three times this week."

Trusler also pointed out to the audience that developer Bill Ingram had "reduced the number of lots by 30 percent."

After the first review of the subdivision, Ingram reduced the number of lots from 19 to 12, resulting in a 7.5-acre density.

"This density would provide a transition between the more urban development pattern of the Polson area and the more rural development pattern of the Valley View area," Lake County Planner Dave DeGrandpre wrote in his report.

"This area of Lake County is not zoned," DeGrandpre noted.

The property, located approximately 3.5 miles from Polson, is about 91 acres in size and is accessed by turning south from Forman Road on Ingram Lane, a private drive.

According to DeGrandpre, the land proposed for development is fairly rocky, non-irrigated, treeless pasture that is surrounded by a poorly maintained fence. The property is part of a bench about a quarter of a mile west of the Valley View hills.

The planners said he "has wrestled with the density of this proposal since the pre-application questionnaire was submitted in August of 2003."

In the past, he and others noted, dense subdivisions in agricultural areas have brought "inherent conflicts" between residents and agricultural producers. Such conflicts include residential landowners unwilling to comply with legal fencing requirements, intolerant of cattle moving down county roads, intolerant of pest control measures, intolerant of agricultural hours of operation and loose dogs that harass cattle.

"Due to these factors this subdivision could actually increase the pressure to develop the larger surrounding parcels," DeGrandpre wrote in his staff report. "One of the primary goals of subdivision review over the years in Lake County has been to protect existing agricultural producers from the impacts of encroaching residential development and the Lake County Growth Policy confirms this goal. Lake County has … limited the development density in agricultural areas through the 20-acre density policy. This area is agricultural and rural in nature, and farms and ranches are located in the immediate vicinity.

"However, due to its non-irrigated, rocky soils, the land is not particularly productive and no designated prime soils exist on the property. Also, approximately 10 homes on relatively small parcels are present nearby along Forman Road and the land is just a few minutes from Polson. It has also recently come to light that in May 2004, the planning board and commissioners approved a single-lot division of a 10-acre tract just north of the proposed subdivision, where two homes already existed on the subject property."

DeGrandpre recommended approval of the proposal subject to 22 conditions, including requirements for fencing, emergency water supply, and storm water and sewage disposal systems.