Flathead County subdivision activity continued a recession-induced decline in 2009, with a 40 percent drop in the number of preliminary plat applications approved.

The 21 subdivisions approved last year contained a total of 242 lots, a 30 percent drop from the number of lots approved in 2008, according to the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office annual report.

The minimal level of activity last year pales in comparison to the 134 rural subdivisions with 1,690 lots approved in the county in 2005 at the height of the building boom. But, the report noted, 2005 was a “speculative high water mark that likely won’t be seen again for many years.”

A side effect of the changing economic landscape has been a sharp increase in non-fee-generating subdivision work.

An increasing number of lots approved during the high-growth years are experiencing changes in ownership, the

 report indicated. That means new landowners, surveyors, banks, engineers, development advisers and appraisers are using Planning Office staff to help them understand the process. It’s a critical public service, but not a lucrative one.

Last year the office collected $130,162 in application fees, a 36 percent decrease from 2008.

Shifting away from speculative development has allowed the planning staff and volunteer boards to spend more time on long-range planning, but the decrease in activity has taken a toll on the staffing level and prompted a staffing reduction plan for the fiscal 2010 budget to save about $161,000.

In December 2009 a top-level planner retired and that position remains vacant. Two administrative staffers were cut to part time. Overall, the Planning Office is staffed by six planners, two full-time equivalent administrative assistants and the director. Thirty percent of approved staff positions remain vacant.

In the area of code enforcement, lake and lakeshore complaints were at a five-year high in 2009, with 13 complaints filed and investigated. Community decay complaints also continued an upward trend, with 10 complaints investigated.

The number of zoning complaints dropped almost in half, though, from 33 complaints in 2008 to 18 filed last year.

A bright spot for the county was the Community Transportation Enhancement Program administered by the Planning Office. Planning completed in 2009 will result in more than $400,000 in federal funds for local bike and pedestrian trails.

In the last five years, Flathead County has gotten more than $1.3 million from the federal program for planning and construction of trails.

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