Approval granted on driveway length
SUPERIOR – Among other business in the monthly two-part meeting, the County Commissioners were joined by the public to discuss concerns with a proposed subdivision.
During a public meeting, Mineral County Planner Tim Read outlined a proposal for a possible subdivision at the end of Mill Creek Road. The area in question is 234 acres approximately three miles northeast of St. Regis. It has been suggested the land be used to create two single-family lots. Members of the community were in attendance to offer concerns and perspectives on the proposed project.
One of the concerns was a variance on the allowed length of driveways. The covenants for the subdivision require driveways be no more than 500 feet long and wide enough to allow emergency vehicles room to turn around.
The proposed variance would permit driveways to exceed 500 feet in length. The issue with the idea is one of safety. According to Read, a house with a driveway exceeding 500 feet would be harder to protect. The accuracy of the logistics to this were questioned. It was suggested the concerns may come from the possibility for both lots to have longer driveways.
However, it was agreed the Mineral County Volunteer Fire Departments would not likely see problems because of driveway length. Since the people who made the complaint were from out of state, there was little experience with how local firefighters operated. The commissioners unanimously granted the variance for both lots.
One of the other concerns up for discussion was the use of the land in commercial pursuits. The subdivision covenants say the land cannot be used as a junk yard, a hog farm, to store a mobile home or the source of obnoxious activity. The question is in how to enforce the rule.
“Typically, we haven’t been doing that,” said Read. “We leave that up to the homeowner’s association.”
Read said one of the best ways to regulate the issue was to leave it to the landowners. He felt it would hurt the residents to not follow those rules or enforce them.
At another point in the meeting, representatives from the Mineral County Airport Board addressed the commissioners with news of projects for the improvement of the airport.
The Airport Board requested the county accept a loan offer of approximately $25,300 from the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division. Steve Temple, chairman of the Airport Board, explained how a grant was issued to the board to construct new hangers. The loan would be used to pay the contractors and others who worked on construction of the new hanger.
“The cold, wet conditions make it difficult to work…but everyone still wants to get paid,” said Temple.
According to Temple, the loan would be at 1.62 percent interest but could be paid back over 10 years. This would free up money for future projects, which could be added to statewide funds available for airport projects.
The commissioners unanimously approved the loan.
The Airport Board also talked about an application for a grant, which would cover the cost for the installation of asphalt in front of the hangers. According to Temple, asphalt would be higher quality than the current concrete and would cost approximately the same as cleanup and repairs to the concrete pads.
The Federal Aviation Administration will not pay to do the work since the concrete is too close to the hangers. The FAA considers anything within a certain distance of airport hangers to be private property and outside the government’s control and responsibility.
The Airport Board also discussed long term plans to install an automated weather observation system. The board has received reports from pilots who needed to go through the Missoula airport or the Weather Channel to get weather conditions in Superior’s air space. The automated system would allow pilots to receive the most up to date weather conditions for the area while in flight.
The improvement would make for a safer flight environment through Mineral County.