County zoning policy has big implications

The final meeting before the Lake County Commissioners to adopt the Lake County Density Map and Regulations was held yesterday, after press time, but it is expected that commissioners Dave Stipe, Paddy Trusler and Mike Hutchin will approve both.

Turnout for the nine previous public comment meetings on what amounts to very significant zoning changes has been low.

At the Oct. 13 planning board meeting, attendees were vocal that much of the public had no idea what was going on.

"My family owns about 12 sections west of Polson," said Rick Van Voast, "Dave (DeGrandpre, director of planning) has some great plans in that paper there, however, I don't think the contact he's had with all the landowners is adequate. He's had nine meetings during harvest time - the comment period ended during planting season."

"It's sad to see that a meeting like this, where some issue is going to compound the lives and peoples property rights in this whole county is only attended by 15 people," commented local surveyor Don Wester. "This has tremendous impact on peoples rights. I'm opposed to this density map and regulations."

"A county wide decision as big as this is should be voted on by all the people," added Gene Garrison at the Oct. 13 meeting.

Jack Duffey, another attendee, agreed, "Public awareness is just not there. I know that there were articles in the paper. The majority of people I've been talking with over the last three to four months don't know anything about this. I don't know why people aren't showing up for such an important thing." Duffey went on to say that most people don't know what a density map is.

Density Map

The density map and its attendant regulations stem from Lake County's growth policy, which was adopted in August 2003.

The regulations and map detail how the county will be zoned in terms of density, not in prescribed land use.

The new density regulations will dictate how a landowner can divide his property.

Previous zoning meetings held by the Lake County Commissioners and Lake County Planning Board were publicized, per Montana Code Annotated 2003, section 76-2-205 under "Legal Notice" in the Leader. The Nov. 10 meeting was not.

Asked why it was not, Dave DeGrandpre responded that in his mind he had "met the statute's burden." When asked if he didn't think this Nov. 10 meeting important enough to publicize, DeGrandpre said that he'd done everything imaginable to publicize the map and regulations, including putting them on the county's Web site over many weeks.

In an interview held at his office on Nov. 8, DeGrandpre expressed his frustration with making the Density Map and Regulations understandable to a wide range of persons -"persons from farmers to company C.E.O.'s who might want to develop in Lake County."

Many readers of the regulations find them difficult to understand. After much explanation from DeGrandpre, it's clear that there will be legal restrictions imposed upon on the size and number of parcels that can be created from an existing tract of record. There will be also be restrictions on a landowner's ability to gift or split of tracts of land to his heirs.

The density map, which is viewable on the county's Web site, color codes all of Lake County into "density areas." The largest area, which is yellow in color, is restricted to no more than 20 acres per unit (or parcel). An analysis of the map and subsequent confirmation by DeGrandpre explains the zoning this way:

How Zoning Would Work

Landowners in the yellow colored area, which is predominantly unincorporated Lake County, who have less than 40 acres, will not be allowed to subdivide.

If a landowner has the required 40 acres, he will be allowed to subdivide his acreage into two parcels. If that same landowner has 60 acres he may subdivide the property into three parcels.

In short, acreage must be divisible by 20 to earn its right to subdivide. The parcels need not be equal in size. In other words, that 60-acre subdivision could contain a two-acre parcel, a 22 acre parcel and a 38-acre parcel. The three parcels add up to 60-acres, giving some flexibility to the landowner.

Don Wester didn't understand what was going on until Oct. 13.

"And I'm a surveyor. There's no way the average 'Joe Blow' can understand this. The downside for the little guy is unless you have enough acreage to qualify, you can't subdivide your property at all. But there is one ridiculous exception."

That exception is if a homeowner wants to subdivide, but doesn't have enough acreage to qualify for a sub-division, he or she can approach a neighbor within three miles of his or her property and buy his or her development rights. If your neighbor, for example, has 60 acres and you have 10, you can purchase his or her right to subdivide three times. Once you've secured his or her right to subdivide he can never split up his property and you can break your 10 acres into three parcels.

Asked why he thought the Commissioners were instituting this proposal Wester said, "They want to protect the agricultural lands of the valley so they are zoning areas that are on agricultural lands. When people move into the valley the last thing they want is a lot in the city. They insist on rural. Usually they have enough money to accommodate their goal. Now we have the commissioners saying, 'No, you can't have a rural lifestyle. We say you have to live near the city. 'But if you can talk a farmer into sub-dividing his land and selling you at least 20 acres, than you can move out there."

The small farmer could be hit hard by the regulations, if adopted.

Dave Lake, a large farm operator said, "It's economics. If a farmer is starving to death, he'll want to subdivide. I don't see AG being more profitable."

Subdivisions Are Necessary

Rancher Joe Brooks said in a Nov. 9 interview with the Leader, "I am sick and tired of having bureaucrats tell us what we can do with land we're paying taxes on. To stand up there in Polson and say they are preserving AG is asinine. If it weren't for my subdivisions and the sale of my land, I would have lost my ranch. To have three commissioners anticipate passing regulations that will impose an unjust burden on the people who pull this train is ridiculous."

Profits for Lake County farmers and ranches have fallen in recent years. A time-honored way to raise money in tough times has been to sell off land. The proposed growth plan would severely restrict rural landowners on what they can and cannot do.

Dave DeGrandpre pointed out that the regulations have a number of variances that can benefit a landowner who finds himself challenged by the regulations. Section 7 of the Density Map and Regulation document addresses hardship. It reads, "The term hardship refers to circumstances peculiar to the particular property. Financial or economic difficulties shall not be considered a hardship where reasonable alternatives exist."

To retrieve both the density map and the regulations go to http://www.lakecounty-mt.org/index.html

Click on "draft density map" to see the proposed zoning areas.

"Up until now you could do anything you wanted with your property," said Wester. "I'm a stickler on rights. The people should have input on this. Zoning is the key issue."

If the zoning regulations passed yesterday, the public has 30 days to act. To overturn the board, 40 percent of the freeholders within the district whose names appear on the last-completed assessment roll must protest in writing. Montana law provides that if this percentage of complaints is met, the board of county commissioners may not adopt the resolution and a further zoning resolution may not be proposed for the district for a period of one year.

In a separate issue, Dave DeGrandpre announced he will resign as director of planning for the county effective Dec. 25. He said he intends to go into business for himself.