Opposes Teakettle Heights

I’m writing to comment on the proposed housing development of Teakettle Mountain Heights.

As a property owner in Aluminum City for 38 years, I am incensed at what this developer has done to the site just east of my home that was once a beautiful meadow, lovely stand of trees, home to so many wildlife species, winter range and spring birthing grounds for a deer and elk, and an enjoyable place for me and so many of my neighbors to peacefully live.

When my husband bought our property in 1988, he said, “I didn’t even know there was an aluminum plant over there.” Well, you certainly can’t miss it now! Hundreds – no thousands – of trees have been pillaged and not only can we see the plant, we can see and feel and hear the trains, the increased wind and the noise. Our lovely, quiet, end-of-the-road neighborhood has been ruined.

This developer touts clearly and loudly what he has done for our town, and he feels this project is something to be proud of? How can you be proud of ruining wildlife habitat, one of the most tranquil views of the mountains, and alienating a large portion of the prospective neighbors?

Some of us have attended the CFAC cleanup meetings for over 14 years, offering our input and insight, and our photos and experiences in the area to various government entities – all with no change in what we feel have been their predetermined decisions. We have no faith in our ability to change the outcome of what is being done to us, and yet we keep trying. 

This is our home, our neighborhood, our very life. It is quiet, beautiful and blessed with wildlife – or it has been for these many years. What we have invested here is more than just money.

I realize that our Valley needs more affordable housing – or as it has become known lately in the recently acceptable jargon as “attainable” housing – which this will NOT be for our citizens who live and work here. Published statistics have shown that to be true.

The most egregious aspect of this plan is the 12-unit apartment complex located only 45 feet away from my property. Yes, there is a small common area between. However, with the height allowance of 45 feet, I will not see the rising sun until well after 11 a.m.. The flowers in my yard won’t bloom, the previous views of the rising sun, the meadow, the beautiful mountains and trees, the tranquility of a peaceful yard, all gone. 

Can each of you imagine how it feels to have all that denied when the Montana Constitution specifically guarantees that even a renter can enjoy “the quiet enjoyment” of his property? Four hundred people, the noise, the increased traffic. There will be no quiet enjoyment of life at all. 

How can a property owner, even a wealthy, well connected one such as this man, take that away from an elderly widow wanting to live out her life on the homestead she shared and built with her spouse?

My specific request to the Columbia Falls Planning Board was that the No. 1 apartment complex be moved to another site in the plan or removed entirely from the plan, but it  appears the planning staff  has approved it as submitted. Now it is up to the City Council to right this wrong.  I worked in real estate development for 15 years, and there was one thing we were never allowed to do and that was to alienate neighbors.

The original Planning Board Meeting to review the application was scheduled for April 13, 2026, and was canceled.  A new date has not yet been announced, but I would encourage all Columbia Falls residents to watch for the publication of the new meeting and be certain to attend.  There is more at stake here than what is being done to my property value and lifestyle.

Pat Wood 

Columbia Falls