The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday unanimously advised County Commissioners — who all sit on the commission — to approve proposed changes to East Helena’s Special Zoning District (SZD) 43, despite vocal opposition from area residents.
“They completely missed the mark on this,” Rep. Jill Cohenour (D-HD 83), who lives just outside the district, said after the vote. “They could make changes to it that would actually help these folks.”
For 18 years, Helena Sand & Gravel (HSG) has been mining 110 acres of its 421-acre parcel on the northern edge of East Helena, stretching south from Canyon Ferry Road to Lewis St., and east and west of Lake Helena Drive.
Mining and other industrial activities have been barred in the remaining 311 acres since 2008, when the County Commission, responding to residents’ request, created SZD 43. The proposed amendments, which the Commission is expected to take up at its Apr. 28 meeting, would remove from the district’s statute a Special Restrictions clause that explicitly bans uses such as casinos, landfills, mining, and hazardous waste disposal.
County officials argue that the changes are needed to bring the statute up to date with growth policies and that the Special Restrictions are unnecessary because only uses listed in the statute’s Permitted and Conditional are allowed, while any others are banned.
“There is a difference between implicit versus explicit denial,” SZD 43 resident Alex Dodd said at the meeting of the Lewis & Clark County Planning and Zoning Commission (LCCPZC), a seven-member body led by the three county commissioners.
“Right now, the regulations explicitly deny expansion into those areas, into those industries, into those uses,” Dodd added. “Explicit denials cannot be argued; implicit denials can.”
More than 30 residents turned out for the hearing, with more than half expressing opposition to the statutory changes during the public comment period. An additional 16 letters of opposition had been submitted before the meeting. No area residents spoke or wrote in favor of the changes.
Phil Gonzalez, a county land use planner, pointed out that listing restricted uses could encourage people to apply for potentially prohibited uses that had been left off the list. Yet the proposed changes would eliminate a clause that bars the expansion of non-conforming uses, such as HSG’s mine operation.
County officials argue that the application process to expand its non-conforming use would likely prevent HSG from doing so. Yet many residents remained unconvinced.
“This is a special district for a reason, and they deserve to continue to be a special district that does not allow for the expansion of this mining property that’s in the middle of all of these subdivisions and all of these families,” Rep Cohenhour, whose house district includes most of SZD 43, told the LCCPZC. “It is important for me to let the commission know how important it is to listen to your constituents.”
Several residents left feeling discouraged, thinking that the decision to alter the statute had long been decided. “This is all pre-cut and dried,” said Sarah Harold, who lives within SZD 43.
Her fellow district resident Anita Lincoln agreed. “They had their minds made up,” said Lincoln, expecting HSG operations to expand soon. “Just watch that pit in two years.”
The County Commission plans to hold a final hearing on the amendments Apr. 28 at 9 a.m. in Room 330 of the City County Building, 316 N Park Ave.
