Flathead County Commissioners approved Northshore Woods housing development’s preliminary plat on Tuesday, Oct. 1, despite resounding disapproval received in public comment.  

Comment, continued in last week’s meeting, largely involved worries from the surrounding community over limited infrastructure and emergency response capabilities.  

The current plat would allow for 51 single family homes on 43 acres of land in Bigfork, with the main access coming from Peaceful Drive and additional connectivity to Bigfork Stage Road. Internal paving in the subdivision would connect the two county roads, which is expected to reduce concerns about evacuation in case of a wildfire.  

Findings also stated, “The proposal would have minimal impact on Peaceful Drive because access to the subject property currently exists from Peaceful Drive via Highway 35.” 

When asked, project manager Mike Brodie estimated that Peaceful Drive is currently around 20 feet wide, with the county standard at 22 feet.  

“We have plans to extend the water main through there, so I expect that (widening)would come with surface improvements. We haven’t designed any of this yet, so that would come down to part of our design work on this project,” Brodie said. 

Developer Longbow Land Partners, LLC of Jackson, Wyoming, would be required to pave 2,500 feet or to the internal subdivision road intersection on Bigfork Stage, whichever is less. A pedestrian easement on the development land is also necessitated by the Flathead County Trails Plan. 

Bigfork Water and Sewer District provided a will-serve letter for the development, confirming their capacity for the project.  

Northshore Woods arrived back before commissioners this year after being initially turned down in 2023, following settlement of a lawsuit where Longbow alleged its application was illegally denied. The first proposal had suggested 125 single-family homes on 105 acres.  

“When this initially came before us, we had a lot of discussion about phasing and the impacts of a larger development. The developers came before us with a smaller design and it specifically said on the maps that this discussion does not include any larger area other than the 51 lots. I think that’s been an important need for me,” Chairman Randy Brodehl said.  

Commissioner Pamela Holmquist added that conditions of the application must be met before final plat approval.