Karrow Avenue subdivision OK'd
By LYNNETTE HINTZE
The Daily Inter Lake
Heartfelt pleas for neighborhood preservation weren't enough to dissuade the Whitefish City Council from approving a 10-lot subdivision on rural Karrow Avenue.
The council OK'd the Karrow Glen project on a 3-2 vote Tuesday following a three-hour public hearing. Ultimately, the issue boiled down to emotions versus existing zoning.
"Are we going to govern by feelings or by law?" council member Nick Palmer asked. "The laws say he can build on this property."
On the other side of the fence was council member Shirley Jacobson, who voted against the project. "I have lots of things I feel emotional about," she said. "I feel any development out there is an invasion of agricultural farmland in that area."
Development along Karrow Avenue has long been controversial, and developer Sandy Durko's Karrow Glen subdivision - though only 10 houses - is a project neighbors fear will open the door to more development along a corridor that has historically been pastoral farmland. Once water and sewer is extended to that area, more subdivisions will crop up, Karrow area residents maintained.
Durko's 4.89 acres is zoned for single-family residential development and the preliminary plat is consistent with both the current master plan and zoning.
Since the planning office recommended approval of the subdivision, City Attorney John Phelps told the council it would "need to find a substantial reason [for denial] that can't be fixed."
Council member Nancy Woodruff asked if the safety issue on Karrow Avenue was a reason to deny the project and was told by planning director Bob Horne that "no, it is not."
Horne noted the small subdivision will generate only 90 additional vehicle trips a day, not enough traffic to make any sizable difference.
Neighbors argued that any development should be put on hold until Whitefish's growth policy and a neighborhood plan for the Karrow Avenue area are completed. Residents were promised a neighborhood plan after the controversial 57-lot Beaver Parks Estate development was rejected a few years ago, but the plan apparently fell through the cracks when the Tri-County Planning Office was dissolved and Whitefish created its own planning department.
Palmer maintained that the new growth policy probably won't change the zoning in that area. It could be rezoned for denser development, he speculated.
Woodruff suggested a temporary moratorium on Karrow Avenue growth until a neighborhood plan could be finished, but Horne squelched the idea.
"I feel strongly that a neighborhood plan should come after the growth policy," Horne said. "Whitefish needs to articulate its vision, then the neighbors need to shape" their vision.
Many neighbors articulated their vision to the council. They want to keep the horse pastures and farms in the area. They don't want more neighbors.
Maureen Cordoza and her husband, Ken, moved to the Karrow area in 1993 from the San Francisco Bay area and raise Texas Longhorns and chickens. They picked that area for its "ranch feeling."
Cordoza said she's worried about a lack of infrastructure if more homes are added.
"I just don't want to make mistakes on doing things before we're ready," she said.
Public testimony was split, however. Several residents pointed out the need to adhere to existing zoning.
"I don't look at this as what I want but what I believe is right," Tim Butterfield said. "The neighbors got together years ago and decided this zoning should be put in place."
Jeff Bailey agreed, saying "feelings should be subordinate to laws and facts."
That argument pushed the council in favor of Karrow Glen, if only by a slim margin.
"It's really important to administer regulations in a fair way," Woodruff said.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com