![junkit kalispell mt junkit kalispell mt](https://ap.rdcpix.com/c17d97cb1ff8d8971416410299ce147el-m1016818948od-w1024_h768_x2.jpg)
In March, Flathead County District Judge Robert Allison ruled that the commissioners - Pam Holmquist, Gary Krueger and Phil Mitchell - did not consider best available science, the county growth policy or public comment when making their decision. The plant touts itself on its website as being “just downstream from Glacier National Park.” The water bottling factory is about six miles upstream from Flathead Lake in an agricultural area along Egan Slough, a body of water near the Flathead River on the southern outskirts of Kalispell. “The expansion of the zone is a good idea, whether or not there’s a bottling plant there.”
![junkit kalispell mt junkit kalispell mt](https://1qb1ow3qfudf14kwjzalxq61-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/themes/flathead-beacon/library/includes/thumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/190710_MAIN_STREET_KALISPELL_021.jpg)
“This initiative is clearly for the greater good,” Esch said. The Egan Slough Community, a property owners’ group, sued the county commissioners over their decision not to annex Montana Artesian’s land into the existing agricultural zone. Neighboring landowners petitioned the Flathead County commissioners to include the bottling plant in the existing agriculture zoning district, but the board denied that request.ĭuring the permitting process, neighbors and county residents turned out in force to oppose the project. But the commissioners like zoning from the top down, not the bottom up. On Tuesday, the initiative won by an overwhelming margin, with 71 percent of the vote – or 9,531 to 3,952, according to final unofficial totals released by Flathead County.Ī former Flathead County attorney, Esch said: “We have the rights in Montana under Part 1 zoning to create citizen-initiated zoning. The county created the zoning district in 2002 to limit certain land uses. Initiative 17-01 adds 530 acres into the existing 1,150 acres of the Egan Slough District, including the property owned by Montana Artesian. The initiative cannot stop the bottling plant, but it does limit its expansion and use under the Egan Slough Zoning District.
![junkit kalispell mt junkit kalispell mt](https://images.marketleader.com/HouseImages/NWMONTANA/703/f_22014703.jpg)
The initiative expands an existing agricultural zone near a proposed water bottling plant owned by Lew Weaver and his Montana Artesian Water Co.