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YOUR COMMENTS NEEDED TO KEEP
THE FLATHEAD GROWTH POLICY FROM BEING STRIPPED OF IMPORTANT POLICIES
Commissioners say
NO PUBLIC HEARING SEND YOUR LETTERS AND EMAILS TODAY 
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Greetings!
Act now to keep the Flathead from becoming the LOST Best Place! As part of an every-five-year Growth Policy update process, the Flathead County Planning Board recently forwarded a stripped-down and weakened version of the 2007 Flathead County Growth Policy to the Flathead County Commissioners for approval, despite strong public comment against this. The County Commission has now passed a resolution of intention to approve all of the changes the county planning board recommended UNLESS written public comment between now and October 1st convinces them to do otherwise. It's time to send comments--and to ask your friends and neighbors to as well!!
If you agree that sound planning is critical to the Flathead's economic future and to the preservation of the qualities that make the Flathead Valley one of the Last Best Places to live, work, play and locate a business, then please take time to email the county commissioners right now by clicking here.
Ask the Flathead County Commissioners to reject proposed changes to the current 2007 Growth Policy which may make it easier for some to develop along our highways and in rural areas but in the long run will:
- Increase traffic congestion and reduce road safety
- Place water quality at risk by reducing standards to protect it
- Make a political football of planning decisions by allowing a new, vague, and narrowly-defined property rights definition to trump all other policies in the Growth Policy when conflicts arise
- Place the property rights and profits of those developing over the collective welfare of the community and current and future residents
- Devalue the broad consensus reached in the 2007 Growth Policy & its long-range vision and policies needed to keep the Flathead economically prosperous and the special place we have chosen to live and invest in
Let the Commissioners know the lack of meaningful public participation is not acceptable. Policy changes were made at the very end of a 16-month process with too little public outreach. The public was not even provided a draft document showing the proposed changes so that they could be easily studied!
Ask the Commissioners to keep in place the existing goals and policies of the 2007 Growth Policy and to only update the demographic & economic data that provide current factual information for the planning process.
Additional background information:
Click here for a brief review of what a strong growth policy should provide.
Click here for a brief history of the adoption of a growth policy for Flathead county.
Click here to see the proposed changes to the Flathead County Growth Policy, BUT NOTE that the county commissioners have only posted a document that does not show where changes have been made. Instead they expect you to compare page-by-page the current growth policy to the proposed changed growth policy page-by-page for these almost 200 page documents.
Here is the link to the current 2007 Flathead County Growth Policy. (Note you will need to scroll down to where it says--Growth Policy: Adopted March 19, 2007 Resolution #2015A, then click on individual chapters) Click here to view a few of the changes we have found.
There were lots of good comments, written and spoken, at the Flathead County Planning Board (FCPB) hearing on June 13th, defending the Flathead County Growth Policy as originally written. ( To view a sample a few of the 80 comments submitted opposing these changes click on these links: Link #1, Link#2,
Link#3.) Unfortunately, most of the testimony was ignored. Only about five individuals spoke in favor of the changes.
Please take the time to write or email your commissioners today. Tell them that the economic future of this valley depends on sound planning. A successful business requires a solid business plan. A prosperous county, where good businesses want to invest, requires good planning and foresight.
A strong growth policy is needed to provide fair and predictable guidelines for growth. A strong growth policy is needed if we want to ensure that planning policies keep the Flathead from becoming just another spoiled, highway strip commercial sprawling, anywhere-USA, type of LOST Best Place.
Note that there is a public comment period at 9 a.m. on any day that the commissioners meet if you want to speak to the commissioners directly. Check out the Flathead County Commissioners agenda (click here) to find out their schedule. Let them know that the Growth Policy in its original form is important to you. Sincerely, Citizens for a Better Flathead
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