Commissioners tackle Southlake Crest Drive issue
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POLSON — Although the agenda for the Oct. 17 Polson City Commission meeting was short, the meeting was not.
Item six on the agenda was discussion regarding concerns over commercial use of a parcel zoned transitional at the end of Southlake Crest Drive. Southlake Crest Drive is in the Ridgewater subdivision.
Dean and Tarri Duncan bought a lot and built their home on the street, which was a cul-de-sac with no outlet except the required emergency outlet.
Dean studied the approved subdivision maps the developer used and counted houses “cause I wondered what was going to be above us … We would eventually have 46 neighbors up the hill from us, out of the 70 lots.”
The traffic for the 46 homes they understood and accepted, the Duncans agreed.
“But the traffic that has been added and will be added by the commercial use of that 24,000 square foot office building called the Mansion owned by Mike Maddy is not safe, and we do not accept,” Dean added.
A strip of road connects the parking lot of the Mansion to the end of the cul-de-sac, allowing employees at the Mansion to use Southlake Crest to get to work.
“We have counted 100 cars that pass our driveway in one day, and we only have one other residence in our cul-de-sac,” Tarri noted.
Safety concerns the Duncans also, since Southlake Crest is steep in some places, has gravel walking paths and several people who walk the subdivision daily. The Duncans also explained that Maddy would still have at least two opportunities for access to the Mansion: either the original access off Viewpoint Drive or a second route off Longlake Drive.
“It’s just not right that Tarri and I bought our lot and built our home on a quiet street in a master plan cul-de-sac subdivision, and now we live on a street that is the primary access to one of the largest office buildings in the city,” Dean added.
“This problem needs to be corrected now, and Dean and I really request that the city take a second look,” Tarri asked, ”a real good look at what they’ve approved and figure out how to fix this.”
Land surveyor Rick Breckenridge, Dayton, also spoke to the commissioners. Prefacing his remarks, Breckenridge said, “I don’t have a dog in this fight.”
He said he received two e-mails yesterday asking him as a professional land surveyor to examine the survey that created the impact at the end of Southlake Crest Drive.
“I found several inconsistencies that a proper policy or review could correct so this wouldn’t happen again,” Breckenridge said.
First, Breckenridge said, the city commission allowed tracts to be created after a partial subdivision was allowed and a road dedicated.
“On the face of this survey, it said three parcels were created that way,” Breckenridge continued. “Now state law and the Attorney General (have) set a law that unless there is federal money involved, then a segregation by a road of a tract of land does not create a separate parcel of land.”
Then the developer and his surveyor adjusted eight boundaries, Breckenridge added, which Polson subdivision regulations specifically prohibit (page 39, section 3).
As for how it happened, Breckenridge said, “I’ve been practicing surveying in the state of Montana for about 17 years, and I doubt very seriously that a planning inspector is up to speed on current land use laws, regulations, growth policy 76-3 exemptions to the Subdivision and Planning Act or to the growth policy.”
Breckenridge said, “So you don’t have a planner reviewing on this, you don’t have person who is responsible, ultimately responsible, either the mayor, the city attorney or the city manager who signs off on this to make sure it complies with everything in the Montana Subdivision and Planning Act, with your growth policy and with your development code.”
Breckenridge recommended that the commissioners send a letter to the developer that says he’s in violation of the Montana Subdivision and Planning Act and in violation of the Polson Development Code and ask for the developer to resubmit the project as a subdivision so it can be reviewed by the city.
Storm water and soil erosion also need to be addressed on the lots according to Breckenridge, who added he also couldn’t find a receipt for the impact fee for hooking into the sewer from one of the pieces of property.
City of Polson Building Inspector Ron Melvin said he would take the suggestions to City of Polson Planner Joyce Weaver and City Engineer Shari Johnson.
Also on the agenda was the annual report of the Polson Redevelopment Agency.
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
