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Good News! The Lake County Planning Board voted unanimously to pass the Lake County Subdivision Regulation Update after ten months of work. This included all changes to subdivision regulations agreed to by Lake County under the settlement agreement signed with the Swan Lakers and Milhous Group. This is our most far reaching victory to date! It means among many other improvements, that Lake County shall consider density as a criteria in subdivision approval; the Commissioners would not be required to accept the number of units proposed by a developer. The Commissioners shall also consider the impact on the natural environment including historical features and wildlife. They would also have to consider the impact on local services during the subdivision application process. The update includes language specifying that the threat of a lawsuit shall not be a basis to approve or deny a subdivision. Mark your Calendar: Our final hurdle will be approval by the Lake County Commissioners at their December 16th meeting - time to be announced soon. Visible support is very important! Please make a few hours available to attend this critical final step in our three year journey as Swan Lakers. We will post the time of the meeting as soon as we hear. The final draft of the proposed updates to the Lake County Subdivision Regulations, as well as the current subdivision regulations, may be viewed at Lake County Planning Dept, Room 315 of the Lake County Courthouse or online under the subdivision link at http://lakecounty-mt.org/planning. Please send comments to: Lake County Planning Department at 106 Fourth Avenue East, Polson, Montana, 59860 or by FAX 406-883-7205, or by email at planning@lakemt.gov . Shelley Emslie sent this beautiful photo of frost of recent past and near future
Read the news article in the Bigfork Eagle: Swan Lakers settle over Kootenai Estates Follow this link to the final settlement between Swan Lakers, Milhous Group, and Lake County (file size is 3.4 MB)
For the
Fishermen:
Here is
an
interesting
article
in the
Daily
Interlake
about
Lake
trout in
Swan
Lake (a
lot of
'lakes'
in that
sentence!):
Net loss--
Lake
trout
fished
out of
Swan
Lake to
aid
native
species REMEMBER that Legal Notices for proposed projects in our area are also posted in the Bigfork Eagle classified section. The same notices appear in the Lake County Leader classified section. These notices are somewhat hidden. Please scroll down through the classified ads to the Legal Notices or click on the "Legal Notices" link under the "CLASSIFIED" heading. The Lake County Planning Office website also posts Legal Notices for projects. Lake County Commissioners Schedule are posted before the hearing dates. We hope that everyone is still on the lookout for Eurasian water milfoil. A population of this species in Swan Lake or in any other water body in our area could essentially destroy the value and enjoyment of Montana's, thus far, pristine water bodies. This plant HAS BEEN FOUND recently in Noxon Reservoir, which is not that far from here. To learn more about this invader, please visit the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks website for information on how to identify and prevent this noxious aquatic plant. The website also provides valuable information on identification, source, and prevention and eradication of noxious weeds.
Earlier
news include
a DNRC grant
to do LIDAR
mapping for
Flathead
Lake and
Swan Lake.
Light
Detection
and Ranging
(LIDAR) is a remote
sensing
system used
to collect
topographic
data. The
County
intends to
use the
information
to
incorporate
floodplain
mapping,
review
subdivision
and zoning
proposals,
review
septic
system
permitting
and
storm water
management,
and to
support long
range
planning and
zoning
documents.
We sent
a letter of
support to
the
Planning Board for the
Renewable
Resource
Grant. Older Items of Interest:
Daily
Interlake:
New FEMA
Flood
Insurance
and
Flood
Insurance
Rate
Maps
On December 19, 2007 the Montana Supreme Court granted an injunction negating the final approval granted to Milhous by Lake County. In effect, the ruling turns back the clock to the day before the Commissioners granted final approval; Condo units cannot be sold until this case is resolved. The Court said no bond was required because issues have been raised that are important to society. Please follow this link for a copy of the Court Order. The Court also ruled that it will expedite the appeal. Our appeal was due by Dec 28th, which has been prepared and submitted. Milhous has until January 11, 2008 to respond. The Swan Lakers submitted a response to his position before January 18, 2008. Although we have not been notified of the exact date, the case should be heard sometimes in February. The Montana Supreme Court apparently has a quite a backlog of cases, but the court recognizes that it's important that the case be resolved as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary harm to all parties. Daily Interlake Article, August 9, 2007 RE: Temporary Restraining Order prevents Lake County from granting Final Plat approval for the Kootenai Lodge Condominium Subdivision until the legal issues are resolved. District Court Judge Harkin previously ruled that the Swan Lakers had no standing to proceed with the brief filed in District Court requesting a preliminary injunction of final plat approval of the Kootenai Lodge Condominium Subdivision by the Lake County Commissioners. Brief in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction Three additional briefs were filed by the Swan Lakers previously to the above brief. The outcome is still undetermined. (Large files!) Other News of Interest:
"Requirements for Storm Water Discharge During Construction Activity Brochure" (pdf)
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Plans, Maps, Staff Reports, Meeting Minutes & other Correspondence: |
Learn about
the History and Visit
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Email
comments to the Lake County Planning Department at:
planning@lakemt.gov
and the County Commissioners at:
commissioners@lakemt.gov or Fax to the: |
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