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Sally Johnson carries bags of donated food as she walks up to the Seeley Swan Community Food Bank. It's a Wednesday, and even though the food bank is closed, that doesn't stop her from taking time out of her day to bring in donations. Johnson spends a lot of time at the food bank as both the volunteer coordinator and as a volunteer, and started volunteering at the food bank after she retired. Johnson appreciates that she has the opportunity to be so involved in the community, though...
SWAN VALLEY - The members of the Swan Valley Community Council voted to follow SVCC member Henry Westra’s matrix in which he compiled public comments suggesting changes or recommendations to the second Swan Valley Regional Plan Draft. The comments, due on April 10, were then perused by the Council. They discussed and voted for some changes or to keep the original writing to the second draft plan at their meeting May 15. Westra wrote the specific comments on the matrix in the order of the plan, specifying location and by whom the comments w...
SWAN VALLEY - Members of the Swan Valley Community Council discussed the next step needed to implement the second draft of the Swan Valley Regional Draft Plan at their meeting April 17. They voted for each SVCC member to prioritize the more than 20 comments they received pertaining to the plan before the next meeting May 15. The comments along with the draft plans can be found by visiting: http://apps.missoulacounty.us/go/svccplan Chair Ken Donovan said that the comments will be discussed at open meetings and then voted upon as to what will be...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Community Council answered questions and addressed other concerns pertaining to the second draft of the Swan Valley Regional Growth Plan at their March 20 meeting. Missoula Community and Planning Services (CAPS) planner Andrew Hagemeier also presented the beginning stages of the Missoula County mapping update. He explained the project will be a “visual of the policies and visions” of the future of the county. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the second draft of the regional plan as presented by the pla...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Community Council discussed how to distribute the completed second draft of the regional plan to the public at their meeting Feb. 27. The council members agreed that residents can peruse the plan and submit specific comments by the April 10 deadline. Council member Henry Westra asked what the council’s responsibility was in regard to the draft plan. “Do we have to say yes or no [to the draft plan]?” Westra asked. Council member Lacey McNutt said that their responsibility was to get it thoroughly out to the public....
SWAN VALLEY - After lengthy discussion at its Nov. 21 meeting, the Swan Valley Community Council voted to table any decisions and the logistics concerning the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee’s draft plan. Due to the holidays, council members and planning committee members’ absences and unanswered questions, the SVCC will wait until their next meeting Dec. 19 for further discussion. The timeline and the order for getting the draft plan to the community were addressed. Council member Henry Westra suggested that the SVRPC work on the cle...
SWAN VALLEY - The final seventh element entitled Implementation was discussed, edited and accepted by the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee at their meeting Nov. 8. The appendices, taken from text of three elements contained in the growth plan draft, were also accepted by the committee. The committee debated about accepting committee member Diann Ericson’s submission as to how to integrate the appropriate Implementation sections into each element of the draft plan. The committee eventually agreed with committee member Sara Halm to keep t...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee edited the Public Facilities and Services, the sixth element, and reviewed the final Implementation element of the draft growth plan at their Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 meetings. At the Oct. 25 meeting, the committee accepted edits to the remaining sections of the sixth elements except for the section entitled Parks and Recreation, pending edits from appropriate sources in Missoula County. They also addressed the goals, policies and actions of the sixth element. The Public Facilities and Servic...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee worked through the final sections of the Housing Element and completed the Transportation Element of the Growth Plan at their meeting Sept. 13. The SVRPC addressed the goals, policies and actions of the fourth element entitled Housing. The committee voted to change the word “ensure” to “support” having adequate housing now and in the future in the first goal. They voted to accept the edit to the second goal which referred to adding affordable housing in the new development review...
SWAN VALLEY - The Housing Element, the fourth of seven elements of the Swan Valley Growth Plan, was addressed and edited at the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee meeting Aug. 16. The committee completed six sections of the element. The committee discussed the addition to the opening paragraph of the fourth element. The original wording said that the market price of housing has surpassed the ability of many residents to own or rent. Many communities have established programs to help close the gap which can be important to the economic deve...
In the July 27 edition of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, I wrote a letter to the editor and failed to signify that I was writing as a Swan Valley resident. I was not writing as a Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SRVPC) member or on behalf of the SVRPC. I apologize for this mistake....
SWAN VALLEY - The Land Use Element was completed at the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee meeting Aug. 2. The committee deleted and reworded text in the Goals, Policies and Actions sections of the third of the seven elements to the draft Swan Valley Regional Growth Plan. The committee began with four through seven statements of the Goals section. They accepted them as originally written. In the Policies section, the SVRPC voted to accept the seven policies with a change in verbiage to number three. The committee wanted the third policy...
SWAN VALLEY - I am grateful to the Seeley Swan Pathfinder for the opportunity to address a topic under discussion in Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee: the edits to the Swan Valley Regional Plan by Colleen Dowdall. I wish to emphasize that the edits to the Swan Valley Regional Plan by Colleen Dowdall, a Missoula attorney, represent the comments of a local resident. The fact that she rewrote the entire plan does not change the fact that these are the comments of one of the more than 60 written comments that were presented to the Swan...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee continued to work through the Land Use element of the draft growth plan. They also agreed to have the document ready to submit to the Missoula County Commissioners by Nov. 1 at their meeting July 12. The SVRPC agreed to review the numbers and charts included in the first two paragraphs of the Land Use Element’s section entitled Vacant, Unencumbered Parcels by Acreage at a later date. The chart refers to the number of vacant lots that vary from less than one acre to more than 80 acres. T...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee voted to add appendices to the draft growth plan at their meeting June 14. The committee also discussed and edited three sections of the Land Use Element. Despite Chair Ken Donovan’s objection to including appendices in the draft plan, he and the rest of the committee voted to include appendices. Donovan was concerned it would make the document redundant. Committee member Diann Ericson compiled the additions to the appendices from text the committee eliminated from the draft plan. E...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) addressed the remaining paragraphs of the Asset Based Approach to Future Development section of the Land Use Element in the draft growth plan May 24. They tabled the final paragraph of the section until the next meeting which deals with natural resources and residential densities. Residents also shared their thoughts about the process of editing the draft plan. The committee unanimously accepted Colleen Dowdall’s edits to the third paragraph of the section. They agreed to r...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) made a little progress editing two paragraphs in the Land Use element of the draft document at the May 10 meeting. Committee members also discussed adding an appendix to the document to supply further information and decided on officers for the coming year. The committee finished the section entitled Regulatory Framework with all committee members but one accepting two sentences in the last paragraph of the original draft. It reads “As set forth in the judgment handed down by t...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) members addressed the Wildland-Urban Interface and Regulatory Framework sections of the Land Use Element contained in the draft growth plan at their April 17 meeting. The committee agreed with the wording of the original Wildland-Urban Interface section and voted to accept it. The Regulatory Framework section generated a lengthy discussion about the community’s aversion to regulations and zoning in the growth plan as expressed in the visioning comments and neighborhood m...
SWAN VALLEY - Newly-elected Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier introduced himself and visited with those in attendance at the Swan Valley Community Council (SVCC) April 18 meeting. SVCC candidates Nathan Richardson and Diann Ericson introduced themselves and shared why they want to serve on the council. Council member Marcia Tapp told Strohmaier that the Swan Valley is a unique community of highly motivated, hardworking individuals. “We would like you [and the other commissioners] to know us and interact with us. We want to be able t...
SWAN VALLEY - Members of the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) discussed at length the community’s concern that the regional draft plan editing was taking too much time at their meeting March 23. They also addressed and voted on edits to the Land Use Element of the draft plan referring to community comments and edits by attorney Colleen Dowdall and journalist Suzanne Vernon. Community member Dan Maloughney said community members he talks to are wondering if this is becoming a “committee plan and not a community plan” becau...
SWAN VALLEY - Local real estate agent John Keller spoke to the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) Thursday about his research and thoughts on Land Use in the Swan Valley. Keller told them that the Swan Valley doesn’t need land use designation. He said the valley is set up now for future growth without further zoning and regulations imposed by Missoula County. The SVRPC asked Keller to speak to their task of editing the Land Use Element of the draft growth plan. The committee is concerned with how to word the draft plan so that t...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) agreed on edits to the remaining six of the original seven actions of the draft plan’s Economic Development Element at their Feb. 15 meeting. The first action, which required community consensus to designate acceptable sites for appropriate business and industry, was deleted at their January meeting. Committee member Pat Sinz said that she wanted the second action to make clear that the residents of the Swan Valley have a voice and open discussions with Missoula County about guid...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) discussed and used edits and comments from the public to clarify section 2.4 New Industrial Development in the second element of the plan draft entitled Economic Development at their meeting on Jan. 24. They also addressed the goals, policies and actions pertaining to the Economic Development Element. The SVRPC accepted public comments about the wording to the draft’s New Industrial Development section, eliminated unnecessary sentences and clarified other wording. The New I...
SWAN VALLEY - Swan Lake District of the Flathead National Forest (FNF) Ranger Rich Kehr presented updates to projects in the works for the Swan Valley, the FNF forest plan revision draft and answered questions from attendees at the Swan Valley Community Council (SVCC) meeting Jan. 17. Kehr briefly explained that community residents had concerns pertaining to wilderness expansion onto the Swan front addressed in the draft forest plan. Kehr said FNF Supervisor Chip Weber will make recommendations about the plan draft to the United States Forest...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) discussed and edited seven paragraphs in the Regional Draft Plan at their monthly meeting Jan. 11. The paragraphs were part of the Economic Development Element under the section entitled Future Potential of Past and Current Economic Activity. The SVRPC addressed five of the paragraphs: Residential Construction, Guiding/outfitting, Resource-based recreation, Eco-tourism and Accommodations. This portion of the draft plan deals with promoting the recreation possibilities the valley...
