By Michael Howell –
The Ravalli County Planning Board will be reviewing one of the largest subdivision proposals in the county’s history tonight, Wednesday, June 8, in the commissioners’ meeting room at 7 p.m.
FlatIron Ranch subdivision has been in the works for a long time. An application was originally submitted on June 22, 2006. The subdivision application was caught up in a lawsuit along with many other applicants (Lords et al v. Ravalli County), over the question of Interim Zoning and how it would affect the subdivisions already under review at the time of adoption. The developers argued that their applications would already have reached sufficiency and not been subject to the new zoning if the county had met the legal timelines in the review process. Following the settlement of that lawsuit the county review of an amended subdivision application for FlatIron Ranch began with a new engineering firm involved on behalf of the developer. An updated design for the development, in accord with the settlement, was submitted on April 24, 2009. Work on the application went dormant at the county, however, while the developer pursued an application for annexation into the City of Hamilton. When that effort failed, efforts to gain county approval sprang to life again.
County Planner Tristan Riddell said that the engineering company, WWC, that had been hired to review applications for the largest subdivisions, was also removed from the FlatIron project a month ago when the county and the developer agreed to place the review process back in control of the Planning Office.
The proposal would create a total of 551 residential living units along with four commercial lots on 451.79 acres southeast of Hamilton off of Gold Course Road. The residential living units consist of 396 single-family residential lots and three condominium lots that would hold a total of 162 living units.
Over 117 acres has been set aside for open space and common areas. On-site wastewater treatment systems and water supply systems will be provided. No variance requests are being sought. The project is proposed in 15 separate phases over 15 years.
The project’s developer is listed on the subdivision application as FlatIron Ranch LLC located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The land is owned by Harold and Bradley Mildenberger, Mildenberger Properties LLC, and Lowell Olin.
Some people have questioned the economic feasibility of the project given the current recession. An initial draft of the Planning Department staff report contains these remarks:
“Each developer necessarily takes a risk when processing a subdivision. One must weigh the conditions of the market against hoped-for returns in deciding whether or not to pursue land division. Compounding this equation is now a nation-wide economic downturn and housing crisis that Ravalli County has not escaped. While some may question a developer’s motives in proposing to develop hundreds of new residential units during a time of economic uncertainty the questions posed and criteria evaluated during subdivision review do not question the merits of an individual developer’s decision to move a project forward.”
Riddell said the Planning staff is currently recommending approval of the subdivision application. He said based upon the initial design the planning department had serious concerns about the impact of the development on traffic in the area, concerns about the use of gray water on the common areas, and concerns about high ground water in the area. He said that the developers had successfully responded to those concerns. He said gray water was not going to be used on the common areas. He said two addendums were submitted to the traffic safety analysis that answered the department’s concerns about effects on traffic. In addition, he said, they have coordinated their design with the existing City of Hamilton Transportation Plan as well. In addition, said Riddell, the developer proposed to do updated groundwater monitoring this summer prior to seeking approval from DEQ for its on-site community water and sewage treatment facilities.
“The developer has basically met all concerns,” said Riddell.
The Planning Board will be reviewing the subdivision proposal using the seven criteria set in state law governing land divisions and make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners which makes the final determination.