Lakeside plan advances despite suit

Planning Board sets Oct. 7 workshop

An update of the 1994 Lakeside Neighborhood Plan is moving forward in the shadow of a lawsuit that could stymie the community's planning effort.

The Flathead County Planning Board will hold a public workshop on Oct. 7 to consider a draft of the updated Lakeside plan that won unanimous support in July from the Lakeside Community Council. The workshop is a precursor to the board's required public hearing on the plan and the county commissioners' ultimate decision.

But on Oct. 2, Flathead District Judge Stewart Stadler will hold a show-cause hearing to consider a preliminary injunction involving the Lakeside plan sought by a group of property owners who have sued the county, challenging the neighborhood planning process and alleging violations of open meeting laws.

Plaintiffs want the judge to declare the draft Lakeside plan illegal and unconstitutional and have asked for an injunction stopping the Lakeside plan from taking effect if it's approved.

Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Smith said he advised the Planning Board to continue its work on the Lakeside plan despite the pending court action.

The Lakeside Neighborhood Planning Committee already had produced a draft plan after nearly two years of work sessions and public meetings when a group of property-rights advocates called into question a members-only Yahoo Web site the committee used to conduct business as the Lakeside planning process progressed.

Smith ordered that the Web site be opened to the public and all documentation associated with the site be made public. The site was then shut down in late June and the committee scheduled a second public comment period in July in response to accusations of a 'secret" Web site.

The Lakeside committee continues to use a Web site - www.lakesideplan2008.com - to keep the resort town abreast of the planning effort.

A segment of the site, called "The Facts and Nothing but the Facts," continues to defend the use of the Yahoo site and, "in fact, encourages the county not to prohibit its use in the future; but rather help to define ways or procedures so that it could be used.

"It is a great, efficient and free tool that facilitates groups working together toward a shared product or goal," the Web site states.

THE LAKESIDE planning effort began in summer 2007 with a mandate from the county to the Lakeside Community Council to revise and update the 1994 plan so it complies with the new county growth policy. The council, in turn, called for volunteers to form the plan committee.

Growth in Lakeside has been substantial since 1994, with a flurry of development in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, the community set a vision in the plan to retain its small-town atmosphere, "while allowing for inevitable growth and respecting property rights…"

The planning boundaries in the 1994 plan have not been altered in the update. The planning area goes from the Lake County line to Spring Creek Road, and follows the lake front approximately to the U.S. Forest Service boundary. It's an area that roughly corresponds to the 59922 postal ZIP code, though some areas south of Spring Creek Road actually are in the Somers ZIP code.

Much of the western portion of the planning area has a remote forestry land-use designation, with a recommended density range of one unit per 10 or 20 acres. A substantial amount of acreage is classified as rural residential, with a density range of one unit per five or 10 acres.

Areas surrounding the Lakeside town center are designated as suburban residential, with density ranges from one unit per 2.5 acres to four units per acre.

Lakeside experienced steady growth in the years leading up to the national recession that took hold in 2008. In 2007 the average price of a Lakeside home was $361,798, but last year the average price dropped to $327,000, according to the draft plan, which cites statistics from appraiser Jim Kelley.

If growth continues at an average of 3 percent, Lakeside in 2020 will have an estimated population of 2,760 full-time residents and 1,692 part-time or absentee owners.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com