Condon / Grizzly route to get homes

Missoula County settled a lawsuit with a local developer this week, allowing a previously denied subdivision in the Swan Valley to move forward despite its intrusion into a grizzly bear corridor.

Now Swan Valley resident Karin Stolp can build Homestead Estates, albeit with some changes.

The county commissioners denied Stolp's 152-acre, four-lot subdivision two miles northeast of Condon in 2006 because of its location inside a sensitive wildlife area.

As part of the compromise, the county required the developer move the homesite on one 40-acre lot to a less sensitive area to reduce the impacts to grizzlies moving from the Swan Range to the Mission Mountains.

One homesite remains just inside the grizzly zone.

“It's better than what was initially proposed,” said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Servheen opposed the original subdivision design. “It's of less concern than the original proposal.”

In return, Missoula County agreed to pay Stolp $35,000 to cover the profit disparity from the land sale. Stolp argued the move devalued the land.

Obviously the county would prefer if no houses were built inside the grizzly corridor, said Commissioner Jean Curtiss, but that was difficult with the terrain restrictions in the less-sensitive areas of the property.

“It was a good compromise on both parts,” she said. “All the easy places have been developed already. Hopefully in the future we can negotiate in the subdivision review process rather than in the courts.”

The plaintiff, too, was pleased with the results, said Stolp's attorney, Thomas Orr.

“We got the subdivision,” he said. “We are disappointed it took so long to get to that point.”

This ends a lawsuit that, several months ago, “had no end in sight,” according to District Judge Doug Harkin, who reprimanded the county in a Dec. 5 court order for failing to offer “even meritless objections” in the case.

Because of the county's inaction, Harkin was prepared to allow the subdivision to move forward as originally proposed. County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg successfully argued that by trying to punish the county, the judge could unintentionally harm an endangered species.

In agreeing to hear the facts of the case, Harkin opened up the possibility of a settlement. Had the case gone to trial, both sides are confident an expensive appeals process would have followed.

“From the beginning (my clients) believed what they were doing was environmentally responsible and compliant with the growth plan,” Orr said.

The county paid $4,200 of Stolp's attorney's fees for its delayed response in the case. Orr acknowledged the county responded in a timely matter after the court brought its inattentiveness to light.

So, who would buy a home if the home sits inside a grizzly corridor?

“My clients have never seen a grizzly bear on their property and they've never had any problems,” Orr said. “The linkage zones don't reflect where the bears go. The bears are all over the place in the Swan.”

Scientists identified these grizzly corridors more than a decade ago, Servheen said. Directing development to places outside these areas maintains the opportunity for wildlife movement, he said.

The $35,000 Missoula County must pay to Stolp comes from the county's liability pool. The county sets aside anywhere from $225,000 to $500,000 each fiscal year to cover costs such as payments in lawsuits, damages to a sheriff's patrol vehicle or if an employee were to drop a computer.

Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com

Copyright © 2009 Missoulian