Judge rules for county in land-use argument

Flathead County recently won summary judgment in another land-use planning lawsuit.

The decision, which was handed down last month, marks the 12th time in the past 2 1/2 years that the county has prevailed in a planning dispute.

Including District Court and Montana Supreme Court rulings, it has lost only one case during that period.

The latest ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2003 by the Country Highlands Homeowners Association.

The association challenged a long series of zoning changes, zoning text amendments, subdivision approvals and growth-policy amendments, all of which affected 215 acres on the east side of U.S. 93, across from Majestic Valley Arena and immediately north of the Country Highlands subdivision.

Most of the changes were proposed by developer Roger Fricke, who wanted to build a mixed-use subdivision on the property, with commercial lots along the highway backed by residential lots.

In the lawsuit, Country Highlands homeowners argued that the Highway 93 North Zoning District "was specifically created to preserve agricultural land and limit commercial development and suburban sprawl."

They thought the county commissioners effectively gutted the district by approving the changes and allowing commercial and higher-density residential development in the area.

The lawsuit offered many of the same arguments that have been cited unsuccessfully in other land-use cases here, including that this was spot zoning; the changes didn't comply with the growth policy; the commissioners failed to follow proper procedures and to adequately evaluate all the impacts of the proposed development; and that opportunities for public comment were inadequate.

District Court Judge Kitty Curtis disagreed, saying that "the decisions to amend the growth policy and zoning were not an abuse of discretion."

"The [commissioners] adoption of the amendment was procedurally and substantively correct," Curtis wrote in her decision. "The evidence supports that the circumstances in the area have changed, that residential density has increased, that commercial uses exist nearby; therefore, the change isn't significantly different from the prevailing use and doesn't constitute spot zoning."

Flathead County has won at least one court ruling in almost every planning lawsuit that's been filed since October 2003.

Some of those cases have been appealed to the Montana Supreme Court; a handful of other lawsuits are still making their way through the court system and haven't received a District Court ruling.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com