Article published Jan 17, 2008

Highwood rezoning decision slated for Jan. 22

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

The people have spoken ... and spoken ... and spoken on a land rezoning application east of Great Falls that would pave the way for construction of a coal-fired power plant.

Now it's time for Cascade County commissioners Lance Olson, Peggy Beltrone and Joe Briggs to do the talking — and the deciding.

At a work session Wednesday afternoon — the day following a record-setting meeting during which more than 90 people testified for 11 1/2 hours on the proposal — commissioners agreed to place the rezoning request on their Jan. 22 meeting agenda.

Commissioners will talk it over at the meeting and Olson, the commission's chairman, said he plans to call for a vote.

Even if commissioners approve the request, it doesn't mean the plant will be constructed, as it is still facing legal challenges and seeking financing. But approval of the zoning, from farmland to heavy industrial, would be a major hurdle cleared for developer Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative.

Commissioners noted at the work session that they won't be taking any additional public comment at the Jan. 22 meeting.

They got their fill Tuesday at the Trades & Industry Building at Montana ExpoPark.

A public hearing there began a 3 p.m. Tuesday. It concluded at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"We don't believe we've had a hearing go that long on any topic," said Brian Clifton, the county's planning director.

About 45 people spoke in favor of the rezoning, and approximately 48 spoke against it.

"There's nothing that's been as divisive or as consuming in the public mind as this zoning decision," said Beltrone, who, in her third six-year term, is the longest serving commissioner.

Commissioners approved the rezoning in late 2006, but later rescinded the decision following a lawsuit targeting the county's zoning regulations, which were amended. The Urquhart family, who owns the land and plans to sell it to SME, then resubmitted their request.

Olson and Briggs, both Republicans, voted for the rezoning in 2006.

Both said they are unsure how they will vote this time around.

"The proposal has a lot of pros and cons and at this point I'm honestly undecided," Briggs said.

Beltrone, a Democrat, voted against the rezoning the first time and said she hasn't seen any new information that would prompt her to change her mind.

"I do think it's spot zoning," Beltrone said. "I don't think it's defensible in the courts."

SME attorneys argued during Tuesday's hearing that the spot zoning argument was a "red herring."

Beltrone noted that moving the plant to another site also would eliminate the threat she says it poses to a nationally designated portage route used by explorers Lewis and Clark.