Viewpoint: Pleased with passage of Swan Valley neighborhood plan
Helene Michael and Jon Simon
Three years ago, Condon and the Swan Valley faced a challenge: Would residents who love this rural community let one of North America’s largest ski developers build a huge destination resort on Holland Lake and our public land.
Americans and the community that values this valley’s rural nature, wildlife, clean air and water, and accessibility to public lands, responded with a resounding “No!”
The public responded this way because residents and public land owners were not apprised of the proposed development on our public land, local residents were kept out of backroom discussions of their community’s future, and it wasn’t consistent with our values and vision for our future.
That’s why we’re proud to report that Condon and Swan Valley residents stepped forward to provide input on a renewed community planning document, called a Neighborhood Plan, that will update the 1996 Swan Valley plan and provide guardrails to protect our relatively unspoiled valley into the future.
On November 18, the Swan Valley Community Council, on a vote of 3-1-1 (three yays, one nay and one abstention), endorsed the proposed 2025 Neighborhood Plan and sent it to the Missoula County Consolidated Planning Board for its review on December 16 in Missoula.
Neighborhood Plans are used by community councils to communicate their vision and priorities to elected Missoula County officials. The Swan Valley Planning Committee was a subcommittee of the Swan Valley Community Council. The Planning Committee took 18 months of community feedback as it developed the plan. Feedback was gathered through a questionnaire, monthly meetings, two open houses, media articles, local community group meetings, and written public comments submitted via the Missoula County Voice website and the Swan Valley Community Council email.
Here’s what the new Neighborhood Plan does:
It supports the community’s three core values of 1) Preserving the valley’s rural character (low-density housing, open spaces, small family-run businesses, and strong community volunteerism); 2) Protecting clean water, air and a healthy, fire-resilient forest with abundant wildlife; and 3) Providing accessibility to our public lands for hiking, hunting, fishing, camping and riding.
The plan recommends zoning to regulate all large commercial, tourism and industrial uses (except log or forestry industries) and prohibits them in all areas. The recommended zoning would prohibit uses including destination resorts, large hotels (more than 30 beds), amusement parks, golf courses, RV parks, bottling plants, and utility-scale renewable energy facilities. It would limit commercial development to small-scale businesses that serve local residents and visitors; protect scenic views and dark night skies by prohibiting telecommunication towers over 200 feet high that would require strobe lights; and broadly encourage home-based businesses and occupations. This plan does not recommend residential zoning or establish minimum lot sizes. Though the potential impacts of increased residential density on water quality and quantity was identified as a major concern, there was not a community-wide consensus that these concerns were sufficient to recommend residential density zoning.
Under the Missoula County Growth Policy, a neighborhood plan must include a Future Land Use Map. The 2025 Neighborhood Plan updates the 1996 Future Land Use Map to reflect current land-use patterns and developments. This map serves as a policy guide for future development and reflects the community’s vision and values. It’s advisory, not regulatory. The map is referenced during subdivision review, but the map itself can’t be used to deny a subdivision, per state law. The plan also makes clear that existing properties and uses are “grandfathered in” and any changes, if approved by the County, will primarily affect new development.
The Swan Valley Community Council also discussed how to create implementation committees that could focus on water monitoring to create a data baseline and monitor water quality over time; building relationships with local, state and federal agencies and private partners to further improve land stewardship and resist the sale of public lands; and spurring economic development.
This is the path our community has voiced, and our Community Council recommended it to Missoula County. Let’s work together for a shared future!
Helene Michael and Jon Simon, former co-chairs of the Swan Valley Planning Committee