The Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commission convened Thursday, June 10, to kick off discussions about modifying the law governing development on hillsides.
The Mountain Overlay District Modification Ordinance would not modify any existing boundaries, but would define a process for appealing the inclusion of property within the district. Such appeals now fall under Ordinance 9-26, Reclassification of a Zoning District, which Blaine County Planning and Zoning Regional Planner Jeff Adams stated is not the best tool for use in the Mountain Overlay.
The proposed ordinance would require landowners and developers to prove that the land in question is not part of a hillside, and that any slope is either the result of a river bank or a man-made road cut. The land may also qualify for appeal if it is accessible by a paved and dedicated county road, in an attempt to ensure that proper infrastructure can be created.
However, the new set of criteria does not define what degree of slope should be considered "hillside." Ordinance 9-21 established the district by defining a "hillside slope" as a slope of 25 percent or greater, 15 percent or greater within the scenic corridor along state Highway 75.
This language was struck in 2007 with the computer-based mapping of the district. The map relied on several factors to determine the bounds of the Mountain Overlay, one of which is a slope grade of 25 percent, but this definition no longer exists within the written ordinance.
Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commissioners Pat Murphy and Jo Lowe recommended further expansion of the criteria, possibly including the original stricken language in an attempt to clarify what can and cannot be considered a "hillside."
Lowe also suggested requiring the commission to physically visit the sites of any appeal.
"It's a mistake to think the map is the territory," Lowe said, urging commissioners to rely on their own perceptions rather than maps or textual definitions included in the ordinance.
The P&Z will re-open this issue during a meeting Thursday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m. The public will be invited to comment at the meeting.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
