Article published Oct 24, 2007

County amends rezoning ordinance; coal plant backers can now reapply

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative can now seek industrial rezoning for 840 acres of farmland east of Great Falls, where it hopes to construct a $720 million, 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

"We've been working on an application, so we're going to try to apply as soon as we can," SME attorney Mary Jaraczeski said.

Jaraczeski's comments followed a decision Tuesday by Cascade County commissioners to give final approval to a set of amended zoning regulations that will cover future rezoning requests in the county.

The new regulations are effective immediately.

Landowners who sued the county after it approved SME's first Highwood site rezoning application last fall, which prompted the county to rescind the decision and amend the rezoning rules, said they were generally pleased with the changes.

However, they aren't giving up their fight to stop the power plant.

"The landowners are committed to continuing our efforts to protect our land, its value, its agricultural importance, our personal property rights and our community," the landowners said in a joint statement.

Commissioners Joe Briggs and Lance Olson voted for the new regulations. Commissioner Peggy Beltrone was not at the meeting.

"My goal was to put together a set of regulations that were fair and consistent with state law," Briggs said.

If the county is going to get sued, Briggs said he didn't want it to be over a technical or procedural glitch in the rules.

Randy Hand, who heads the county's finance office, said the county spent $21,000 on outside legal counsel defending the lawsuit and rewriting the rezoning regulations.

While the county was rewriting the rules, rezoning requests were in limbo.

Tuesday's vote by commissioners doesn't mean future requests will automatically be approved, it just allows developers, including SME, to apply and have their applications ruled on. Jaraczeski, said SME's first step would be setting up a pre-application meeting with county planners.

About five projects had been held up while the regulations were reworked, Planning Director Brian Clifton said.

The public got interested in the dry details of the county's zoning rules after the county rezoned land for the Urquhart family almost a year ago, on Nov. 29, 2006.

The Urquharts made the request on behalf of SME and the proposed coal-fired power plant.

Opponents of the Highwood Generating Station quickly sued the county, on Dec. 22, 2006, citing violations of public notice requirements and concerns about the impact the industrial development would have on surrounding agricultural land.

The lawsuit prompted the county to overturn its rezoning of the property in May, while county planners worked on amending the zoning rules to ensure they complied with state law.

In a statement, landowners who live near the proposed power plant site, said amendments to sections 1 and 14 in the regulations complied with the terms of a settlement agreement with the county. However, they said they were disappointed with language changes regarding special-use permits.

Some power plant opponents have raised concerns that developers could use the special-use permit process and harm surrounding landowners. County officials say they actually beefed up safeguards.

Mary Jolley, a candidate for City Commission who has criticized the Highwood project, said county commissioners did their homework and listened to public in fixing the rules.

"I'm very happy," she said.

SME has received a favorable record of decision for the project from the federal Rural Utilities Service, which SME is seeking a loan from. The project faces another lawsuit on the grounds that RUS failed to consider alternative sites or sources of energy.

The air-quality permit issued for the project by the state Department of Environmental Quality also is being challenged before the state Board of Environmental Review.