Plains council discusses housing

Plains held a special town council meeting last Tuesday to go over two issues that are somewhat connected, but were not as easily passed.

The resolution, the "Town's Position on Executive Committee on Housing Recommendations," unanimously passed within 30 minutes. The resolution "Formation of a Community Council" took longer and did pass.

In response to Governor Greg Gianforte's Housing Task Force, which could take away a municipality's authority and freedom to regulate housing regulations, Mayor Dan Rowan called for a special meeting to give the council the opportunity to voice its concern about the proposed bill.

The governor created the task force in July in an effort to help with the housing problem throughout the state and make housing more affordable for Montanans. However, in doing so, Rowan felt it was removing a town's capacity for self rule, taking away its ability to control such things as lot sizes, parking, setbacks and even street size. A person with a single-family dwelling could suddenly have a three-story apartment next door and local government officials would have little to say in the matter, according to Rowan.

"I thought it was important for the town council if the town wishes to have a position on the matter, to put it on paper and send it to the governor's office, our local representatives, House District 13 and House District 14, and our local senator, and express to them whatever council wishes to come of that," said Rowan, who is against the 16-page proposed bill. "Either you guys are opposed to limiting our ability to say what happens in our hometown, or we just roll along with whatever they propose," he told them.

Although the proposed bill targets municipalities with populations of 5,000 or more, Plains resident Charles Bickenheuser, who is the president of the Sanders County Housing Organization and was at the meeting to promote the community council, said that number could be changed administratively by the department or the governor. "They could easily make it under a thousand if they wanted to," said Bickenheuser, a retired college professor.

Rowan believes the town should be in control of its own destiny, but said the town's official position needs to come from the council. He and others agreed that if nothing is done, Plains could start looking like Missoula and town officials would have little control. Rowan said the town council knows better than the state what its residents need.

Bickenheuser said Montana has a housing shortage and the governor's office has decided to regulate the zoning of towns and cities in an effort to help rectify the problem. Bickenheuser added that the town can't just say they don't want this, but must come up with specific reasons. "We have to essentially just collect information about our community in order to substantiate what our housing needs are, what we can afford, and what we can develop in the future going forward and how we want the town to look," said Bickenheuser.

"It looks to me to be restrictions on our ability to have regulations for our community that potentially we would like to retain, the ability to regulate how our community grows, what parking requirements are appropriate, how you're going to handle your storm water, how wide street right of ways are going to be, and things of this nature," said Rowan, who also stated that the community of Plains wants to retain the small town atmosphere as much as possible.

"The town in my mind needs to control the autonomy of what we are as a small town," said Chris Allen, the council president. "We need to be able to control what we have and the way we're doing it this way because it's the only thing that's really going to work," he said. Council member John Sherman agreed. "I think we need to retain as much autonomy as we can," said Sherman, who added that they need to come up with some kind of document that will give the town leverage when the state comes up with something different that the town doesn't agree with. Council member Garrett Boon said that removing the town's ability to have a say would put an additional burden on the residents. Member Chad Cantrell said he also believes the council should be able to govern the town the way it deems fit for its residents.

Bickenheuser said the state is trying to take away the town's ability to control its housing. He believes that an outreach to the residents needs to be a part of any community planning process. In his presentation, Bickenheuser stated, "The participation of residents in the development of a growth policy cannot be ignored, poorly planned, or poorly executed."

The council unanimously agreed and will be drafting its position with regard to the bill and sending it to Helena.

The formation of a Community Council was not as well received. It was Bickenheuser who presented the idea to the town council, and although the new committee would be strictly volunteer, cost very little, and was an advisory entity only, the council seemed reluctant to even make a motion on the subject. It took three times for Rowan to ask for a motion before Boon did so. "I think getting as much input from the community is a great idea," said council member Joel Banham, who seconded the motion. Allen and Cantrell voted in favor while Sherman and Connie Foust abstained.

Bickenheuser said he believes the new group would be beneficial to the community. The purpose of the council would be to come up with a vision and plan and create a future that the people of Plains would want, which includes looking into the governor's proposed housing plan, according to Bickenheuser. "We have a few months to influence the outcome and our town's inclusion in these upcoming legislative and executive branch amendments," he said, adding that effective and meaningful input from the town and county residents is essential to a successful growth policy.

The questions he was getting from some of the council members nearly prompted him to give up and leave, but Rowan convinced him to wait until a vote was taken. He said that one goal of the Community Council would be to get input from a cross section of the community. He plans to gather 24 people for the group, which would gather information and present it to the Planning Board, town council and the mayor. Rowan said though there might be some overlap of the council and the Planning Board, a mandatory entity in a municipality, he didn't see any harm in allowing Bickenheuser to form the group and added that the overlap could be good for the town.

Some on the council were skeptical that Bickenheuser would be able to get 24 volunteers, especially since the town couldn't fill a seven-member Planning Board (it has only six, including Foust and Allen), but he was confident he could do it. "I know how to do this and I'm willing to take the time to do this," said Bickenheuser, who had nearly 10 volunteers only days later. He also said there would be no chair person or official leader, but he would serve as "mentor" of the group.

Bickenheuser realizes that the town council reluctantly passed the motion to establish the Community Council, but he believes the committee is important for the community and he was pleased they voted in favor of it. "I know how to do this, but I will also need an inviting town web page people will want to read for local news and events, as well as the local outreach methods mentioned above," he said.

"What I want to do overall is build the community and be part of the community," said Bickenheuser, who served in the Army's Special Forces during the Vietnam War. "They have fought me every step of the way on any idea I've had and I don't know why," he said. Rowan said that Bickenheuser is passionate about the project. "I don't see any harm in what Charles is proposing and if it's successful, fine, and if it's not successful, no harm done," said Rowan, who added that the council is not permanent. "It can be unformed the same way it was formed," he said.