by Nathan Boddy
On Wednesday, January 3, the Ravalli County Planning Board once again gathered to consider the proposed Sapphire Heights subdivision of approximately 120 acres at the east end of Hamilton Heights Road. Three previous meetings to consider the subdivision took place in May of last year, and turnout to those meetings filled the county’s third-floor meeting room to capacity. County staff, anticipating Wednesday night’s turnout, scheduled the gathering for the council chambers at Hamilton’s City Hall on Bedford. Their guess was correct, as dozens of valley residents showed up to express their concerns about the proposed subdivision.
Last May, many area residents warned against a variety of potential impacts of the subdivision, with perhaps the most common being that of water availability should a dozen new wells be sunk into the area’s aquifer. Other concerns included the proven presence of arsenic in the area, increased traffic, impacts upon wildlife, and the diminishing agricultural heritage of the Bitterroot Valley. After extensive public comment, and before the board was able to begin its deliberations, an extension was requested by the applicant’s consultants, WGM Group of Missoula. The continued meeting in July was also cancelled.
With the proposed subdivision once again on the board’s agenda on Wednesday night, County Planner Jacob Cummings again gave a presentation about the proposed subdivision. His remarks concluded with the staff’s recommendation that the preliminary plat be conditionally approved, subject to mitigating conditions. Cummings briefly explained the criteria that county staff is obligated to consider while making their recommendation, but also added that, “Ravalli County does not have a growth management policy.” Lack of a growth policy, or in fact any zoning within Ravalli County’s unincorporated areas, essentially limits the county’s regulatory reach to those criteria spelled out by state law under the MSPA (Montana Subdivision Platting Act), and its own Ravalli County Subdivision Requirements.
Jeff Smith, engineer for WGM, began the developer’s presentation by thanking the public for their presence and concern about changes in the area. He then pointed out that rural residential development currently exists on all sides of the proposed development, and said that the Foley brothers, who own the land, wish to, “contribute to the community by creating an extension of the rural neighborhood that so many in this room live in and love.” Smith gave increased attention to addressing several of the issues that were primary concerns of the public during previous meetings, asserting that potential impacts of the development could be, “mitigated through good design.”
One example of WGM’s approach to mitigation was Smith’s answer to the concern over arsenic in the water. Smith said that a filtration system upon each well would be able to filter arsenic quantities ten times greater than those found. “It seems like a fairly straightforward approach to treating arsenic,” he said.
Another part of Smith’s presentation, which multiple members of the public found difficult to swallow, was WGM’s finding of suitable groundwater. The data presented by WGM expects an average flow in the new development of over three gallons-per-minute, yet time and again members of the public refuted those claims. Some people accused WGM of having ‘cherry-picked’ only the highest producing wells and purposefully excluding dry ones.
Planning Board member John Bates pointedly asked Smith about the age of the data used by WGM. “You’re basing your standard deviations on well log data that’s, in some cases, decades old, correct?”
“Yes,” responded Smith. “That’s right.”
Most members of the public who chose to speak centered their comments upon water availability and arsenic, but James Rummell made another point about the current difficulties faced by septic pumpers in the valley. Rummell passed out a copy of a November 8th edition of the Bitterroot Star which highlighted a critical shortage of locations for septic services to deposit their loads.
While certain dumping of septic sewage onto the ground through land application is legal in Ravalli County, Rummell expressed concern that an increase of raw sewage onto the ground would be inevitable with more septic systems, and expressed his frustration toward the planning board and staff.
“Is that your plan for the poop that comes out of the septic tanks at the new Sapphire Heights development, or any future development approved by your planners and you guys? This is ludicrous.” Rummell went on to mention the Held-vs-State of Montana case which was ruled in favor of Montana youth who sued the state for failure to provide them a, ‘clean and healthful environment,’ insinuating that Ravalli County was setting itself up for just such litigation.
“I don’t want a moratorium on building,” Rummell said, “but you may be ordered by a judge to do that very thing.”
The meeting ran past 9 p.m., at which time the board voted to continue the meeting to Wednesday, January 10th at 6 p.m.