Stevensville council holds all the cards

Bitterroot Star Editorial

The Stevensville Town Council did a good thing when it decided to wait for more information before making a decision on the Burnt Fork Estates subdivision proposal.

Despite getting some pressure from the developers to approve the preliminary plat, the council, led by council member Jaime Devlin, held out for a question and answer session between the developers and the public to be followed by at least one more public hearing before considering a decision.

Devlin pointed out that the standard process, which doesn’t give the public an opportunity to get their questions answered directly, was not meeting the community’s needs. “This is too big of a project,” said Devlin. 

So far, the Town has received over 100 written and oral comments, with only three of those in favor of the proposed subdivision. Opposition is not coming from only residents of the adjacent Creekside Meadows. Many other town residents have also weighed in, on concerns about water rights, water and sewer capacity, traffic impacts, density, and the proposed commercial development. In one letter, 14 downtown business owners expressed their opposition to the commercial zone.

While council member Paul Ludington pointed out that developing this 57.68 acres is a way for Stevensville to increase its tax base and therefore pay for necessary improvements to infrastructure that will benefit all residents, it does not make sense for the council to rush into approval of a project of this magnitude. Two aspects of this proposal are strikingly different than the original Creekside Meadows additional phases: density and commercial lots. Devlin pointed out that the density is almost double that of what was proposed for the Creekside phases that were never built. And the commercial area requires a re-zoning, which means that it was something that was not part of any planned development in that area. 

Another troubling aspect is the water rights question. While the Town’s water rights attorney expresses confidence that these issues will be resolved by the end of 2022, an attorney for the Creekside homeowners recommends waiting until these issues are actually resolved rather than approving the subdivision on the assumption that they will be.

After the developers’ Q&A and the council’s public hearing, the council still has the option of adding further conditions of approval or even of denying this application outright. Right now, all the cards are in the council’s hands. Let’s hope they play them well.