Do you remember the Legacy Ranch Subdivision proposal that the Ravalli County Commissioners approved in 2013? This approval was despite many meetings and comments from thousands of people who were against it. The proposal was for 639 residential units on 328 acres which would have created a neighborhood larger than the town of Stevensville across from the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastside Hwy.
The Commission was sued for this disregard of the will of the people. Due to the many factual testimonies and data regarding the problems with this subdivision regarding traffic safety, wildlife corridors, public health issues and more, the judge threw out their approval based on the “Hard Look” standard. In other words, the commissioners were provided lots of data and they did not consider it, did not take a hard look at the problems this huge subdivision would cause.
Additionally, the judge stated that allowing a developer 30 years to develop this subdivision using something called Phasing is not legal.
The Commissioners lost the lawsuit and the approval of the subdivision was overturned.
Fast forward to last Monday, 10/24/16. The Ravalli County Commissioners met with the current and candidate state legislators.
Commissioner Chilcott asked the legislators to try to change state law so that the Hard Look standard is eliminated and that Phasing will be an acceptable practice.
Yes, it is shocking. Because they did not listen to the will of the people, the Commission lost the battle in court. Because they lost the battle in court, they want to change the laws. If they change the laws, they will be able to approve any kind of development that they want. This takes away your power.
Please contact your Legislators and tell them that you are firmly behind the decision of the district court that represented your interest in the Legacy Ranch decision. Ask them not to carry new bills to allow the Commissioners to approve neighborhoods the size of small cities without regard to the citizens over a period of 30 years. Our legislators are: Ed Greef, Pat Connell, Nancy Ballance, Thereza Manzella, Fred Thomas, Ron Ehli, Margaret Gorski (candidate). http://ravalli.us/DocumentCenter/View/171 is the link to their contact information.
Also, vote against Commissioner Chilcott who is up for re-election and send a clear message that we want to retain our voice in our community.
Sarah Roubik
Corvallis