Thompson Falls Council reviews zoning ordinance
Thompson Falls City Council chambers last week were full of citizens wishing to express their concerns over the implementation of zoning ordinances within city limits.
Mayor Rusti Leivestad opened the meeting explaining the changes to Ordinance No. 358.
“Essentially, this is a compilation of corrections to the definitions, expanding definitions," Leivestad said. "Some things on adult businesses were shown as not permitted usage. No boundaries were changed.”
Mark Sheets, Zoning Committee member, also spoke on the changes.
“Major changes were brought up by the public that came to us, and they’re looking at day cares, also bed and breakfasts, house rentals. Also, along with this, the state again passed some laws in the past Legislature, even though they were mandatory for cities 5,000 and above, we might as well do it because it will ripple down. We made changes in there to able to bring our zoning in compliance with what the state had for multiple family housing, for parking that was required.”
The first reading of Ordinance 358 was voted on and accepted by council members.
During public comment, Thompson Falls resident Kristen Wing noted there were 370 changes between the last document and the latest version.
Thompson Falls Clerk Chelsea Peterson responded that most of those changes were font and formatting.
Gunner Jagne’s commented, “How many of us know what is in 358? How many of us want 358? Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right. Just because MCA (Montana Code Annotated) says we can, doesn’t mean we should. Maybe it’s time to pump the brakes, table this for 30 days and give everyone a chance to take a deep breath and sort through it."
He continued with, "restricting private property is not the way to do that.”
On display during the council meeting was a plaque dedicated to David Thompson, an early pioneer of the area. The plaque will eventually be on display in Ainsworth Park. A dedication ceremony is in the planning stage for the plaque placement.
Main Street Committee member Annie Wooden gave an update on the July 6 festivities taking place at Ainsworth Park. Plans are being finalized for vendors, games especially for kids, which will be taking place from 1-5 p.m.
A new pilot program to keep the public informed has been implemented. The pilot project will be evaluated for the next six months. Each council meeting will be on Zoom and the audio will be saved and posted on the city’s website. The Zoom meeting link can be found on the monthly council agenda. The equipment costs $2,500 with a $100 monthly subscription fee.
Rich Wallace, a representative from the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, updated council members on his ongoing efforts to bring back passenger rail service to Montana. The service would run between Chicago and Seattle with possible stops in Thompson Falls.
Payments for the ongoing city project were approved. A water project payment of $19,935 dollars was approved by the council. A payment for sewer project one and two for $18,519 was made. Sewer projects three and four payments for $72,345 was also paid.
Council members approved sending out tax liens letters for past due water and sewer bills. Only four letters needed to be sent.
Thompson Falls Council members filled several empty committee seats. Two posts on the Police Commission were filled by Ron Kirt and Rusty Kincaid. Gussie O’Connor accepted another term on the Zoning, Subdivision, Board of Adjustment Committee.
Gunner Jange shares his concern about the zoning ordinance changes. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)