Forum today features commissioner hopefuls

The Daily Inter Lake

A local planning group will host a public forum today for the two Flathead County commissioner candidates.

The Flathead Neighborhood Network, which is working to develop neighborhood plans throughout the county, has invited Democrat Mark Crowley and Republican Dale Lauman to discuss a variety of growth issues facing the county.

The forum will include the candidates' opening remarks, followed by their responses to a set of previously supplied questions about the draft growth policy, neighborhood plans and leadership issues.

During the last hour of the event, the candidates will take questions from the audience.

The press release announcing the forum suggests that the Flathead County Planning Board "is debating the future of neighborhood plans and discussing significant policy changes that could strip neighborhood plans and local residents of their ability to set standards that would maintain the local character of their neighborhood."

During the seven workshops it has held about the draft growth policy, the Planning Board has had little discussion about neighborhood plans.

A few board members have raised concerns about no-growth neighborhood plans and "exclusionary zoning" - meaning the possibility that some neighborhoods will simply exclude or refuse to plan for certain types of land uses, thereby ignoring and undermining the broader goals contained in the growth policy.

The Flathead Neighborhood Network indicated that the purpose of today's forum "is to find out where each of our commissioner candidates stand on these and other important growth issues."

The forum takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Northridge Lutheran Church gymnasium, 323 Northridge Drive (across from the former Blue Cow car wash on U.S. 93), in Kalispell.