As planning effort gets underway, key data released this week

With a joint session of city council and the planning commission last week, the city of Columbia Falls kicked off its effort to craft a new land use plan that will comply with the overarching state law, the Montana Land Use Planning Act.

The state law forced the city’s hand in revising its land use plan and the new plan will most certainly draw from the city’s previous master plan, which was completed in 2018.

Getting information to the public in a timely fashion was first and foremost the biggest concern among members of the public.

The project will have its own website at: columbia-falls-land-use-plan-ctagroup.hub.arcgis.com. In addition, a link to the site is on the city’s website and if one searches online for “Columbia Falls Land Use Plan” the link comes up as well.

In addition, the city has set up its own Facebook Page. Just search for it inside the Facebook app or website, it pops right up.

The city is also asking residents to complete an anonymous survey about the future at its website as well at: https://www.cityofcolumbiafalls.org/planning-zoning/page/columbia-falls-ahead-2045-montana-land-use-planning-act 

About 30 members of the public attended the kickoff, which included Norah Bland of Cushing Terrell, the director of planning for the company that’s been contracted out to help develop the plan. In addition, Elizabeth Zachman, an architect with Cushing Terrell, will also be a local presence, as Bland appeared via Zoom and won’t likely visit the city, as the travel budget for her had to be cut.

Shirley Folkwein of the Upper Flathead Neighborhood Association suggested they have a fundraiser for Bland to attend a few meetings, but whether the city could do that legally remained in doubt.

Others also urged the city to get the word out in other ways, with suggestions like something as simple as posters around town, to meetings with groups of schools and businesses.

Bland said they would be meeting and surveying businesses, industries and other stakeholders as well as conservation groups and land trusts for input.

“We’ll have outreach to all of those,” Bland said.

Residents also urged the city to release information in a more timely fashion. News on the inaugural meeting, along with the agenda, wasn’t available until Monday, noted resident Mike Burr. 

People who lived outside the city limits, which ostensibly will see the bulk of growth in the coming years, also urged city leaders to keep them in the loop. Former County Commissioner Gary Hall asked them to consider a mailer, but city manager Eric Hanks noted it wasn’t in the budget, though he did express confidence that the measures the city was implementing, like the use of social media, the city’s website and local newspapers would work.

The effort is on a fairly aggressive timeline.

State law requires it to be done by May, 2026. The city couldn’t really get started, however, until state Department of Commerce grants came through. 

All told, the city received just under $400,000 in grants for the planning effort, but more than half of the funding went to two key studies, the engineering reports on the city’s sewer and water systems.

The grant funding, however, didn’t come through until this summer, thus the compressed planning schedule.

The engineering reports are out this week. The city will have an open house on them Nov. 20 (Thursday) at 5 p.m.

Those reports are key, as sewer and water capacity plays a huge role in future growth.

The public is encouraged to attend that open house, which will not only show the city’s capacity, but will also give insight into future rate increases and infrastructure projects that will be needed to accommodate growth. 

Hanks has already previously told council that the city’s current sewer and water rates aren’t covering the costs associated with the current system, nevermind future growth.

Other concerns were raised at the meeting. Planning commission member Mark Johnson said he was worried about the $250,000 gap between housing costs in the city and what a working family could afford. 

The Land Use Plan, which is advisory, not regulatory, could address that. But ultimately zoning would be the law.

The one thing that’s certain about the plan is it’s not cast in stone.

“Growth policies and land use plans can always be amended,” Bland said.