From the Thursday, January 17, 2008 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
By a 4-3 margin Wednesday, the Flathead County Planning Board voted against a recommendation for a new North Fork Neighborhood Plan, despite overwhelming support by North Fork residents.
Board members Randy Toavs, Gene Dziza, Mike Mowery and Rita Hall all voted against a motion to favorably recommend the plan to the county commissioners. All four had various reservations about the plan. Hall didn’t like the restrictions set forth on rental properties. Toavs questioned a sentence in the plan that asks the Forest Service to not issue any additional commercial rafting permits for the river, and Dziza questioned language regarding subdivisions. The four votes against the plan came after resident after resident stood up and said it was a good plan for the North Fork Community. The new plan really isn’t new at all. It draws from the original 1987 plan, an update from 1992, zoning laws set in 1998 and amendments done in 2003.
The plan “reflects the values and concerns of several generations,” said long-time North Forker Molly Shepherd, reflecting “consistent and coherent support for the North Fork zoning district.” “If you ever see a neighborhood plan that was created by the community, this is it,” said Larry Wilson, another long-time North Fork resident. Wilson recalled when work on the plan first started in 1984 ?some 25 years ago. “This is a community document that went step-by-step,” he said. But not all board members were convinced. Dziza in particular questioned a section on subdivisions that says “no subdivision should be allowed that would create a significant negative impact on the area.” He viewed that as too subjective.
Planner Andrew Hegemeier tried to explain that the broad language in the plan was just guidance — the specifics are actually laid out in the North Fork zoning regulations, which actually restrict subdivision in the North Fork on a variety of different levels. But Dziza claimed that folks are more litigious now and the county needed a document that could be defended in court. Part of the problem, folks said afterward, was that planning board members who sat in on meetings last year when this draft was being worked out were no longer on the planning board, and really had no idea where the language of the plan was coming from. That may have been the case. The idea of no additional commercial rafting trips or restrictions on rental properties have been around for a long time in the North Fork. In the case of commercial rafting, for example, the Forest Service actually has a moratorium on new permits in place. So the North Fork language, in reality, is a moot point. The plan also received the endorsement from the neighborhood’s largest neighbor. Glacier National Park, which is included in the plan, thoroughly endorsed it.
The plan isn’t dead, however. A workshop to further discuss the plan and potentially work out some of the issues is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 6 in the Earl Bennett Building in Kalispell. The public, particularly North Forkers, are encouraged to attend to give the planning board members greater guidance on the plan and its particulars, board members said.