Contents

• From the Chair
• Annual Meeting June 24th
• Parking at Bridger Bowl
• Cell Towers
• LIDAR mapping
• Variance Appeal
• Zoning Updates
• Resources
• Directors
• Membership, Dues Notice & Payment Form

From the Chair

This has been a busy year for BCPOA. We’ve written briefs for a zoning variance appeal, and intervened in the creation of zoning amendments to regulate cell towers and additional parking at Bridger Bowl, among other things. We’ve also seen turnover of two keystone properties in Bridger Canyon—the Crosscut Ranch in the Bridger Bowl Base Area, and the Flying J that occupies the heart of the canyon south of the Base Area.

I can’t reflect on the year without mentioning the unfortunate series of events in our rural fire department. While every director has an opinion, BCPOA as an organization has endeavored to remain neutral in this matter, both because we felt that BCPOA membership was divided, and because we felt that it was not our place to adjudicate an issue that has its own organization and political process.

As a purely personal observation, it seems to me that the underlying substantive issues in the department were greatly amplified by a vicious cycle of strong rhetoric and attributions of ill motives. I know some of the principals on both sides, and I’m certain that they have had the best interests of the canyon at heart, though it did not always appear that way to their opponents.  I hope that we can turn that cycle around, speak softly and listen more, and gradually repair the injuries that have been done. I’m sure that the differences that divide us are smaller than the common interests that brought us together in this beautiful place.

I hope that this coming year will be even bigger—not because I want to spend more time in meetings and hearings, but because we’ll finally see the submission of a zoning update. The updated regulations should put to rest many of the ambiguities about Planned Unit Developments and other features that have plagued us in years past. The Bridger Canyon zoning district will be 43 this year, and it has served  well to preserve the beauty and value of Bridger Canyon. Let’s hope the next 43 go as well.

Tom Fiddaman

Chairman

Annual Meeting June 24th

BCPOA’s annual General Meeting of the membership sees the election of directors to represent you, and covers a variety of news from the year. Bring a neighbor, and your dues if you haven’t paid them yet!

6:30 Refreshments, Celtic & classical strings by the Fiddaman brothers

7:00 General Meeting

Agenda

• Adopt the Agenda
• Minutes of Annual Meeting – May 2013
• Treasurer’s Report
• Introduction of current board members
• Review of Year
• Current Business
• Elections
• Retiring Board members
• Review of Board work and meeting times, dues requirement for voting
• Board Chair election
• Election of new Directors
• Canyon Groups
• Budworm spraying protocol
• Other Business

Parking at Bridger Bowl

Bridger Bowl has proposed a zoning amendment that will increase its parking area by about 50%. The primary motivation is to avoid parking overflow onto the highway on powder-frenzy days.  This seems like a laudable move from a public safety perspective.

Additional parking at Bridger Bowl is problematic with respect to the Base Area Plan, though one could argue that the plan already had a lot of problems. The issue is that, including potential parking at a Base Area development, potential parking for 9000 skiers will substantially exceed the capacity of the mountain. Bridger Bowl has agreed to defer construction of 1/3 of the area to mitigate the overage while the Zoning Advisory Board takes up the issue.

Cell Towers

Cell coverage for the overall Canyon remains elusive, though several events portend some level of coverage in the near future.  Since the original zoning regulations pre-dated the existence of cell towers, the zoning update committee hammered out a set of regulations to give some guidance on height and placement issues.  Bridger Bowl is in active negotiations with a tower company to start installation this summer on the first of two roughly 60 ft. tall towers.  Two, shorter towers, higher on the mountain, will provide better coverage with less visual impact.

Still in question is coverage for the lower Canyon and coverage in the nooks and crannies of the Canyon.  If you are concerned that you may be left out of coverage, be prepared to make your concerns known to the County Commissioners.  Once basic coverage is achieved and the highway is covered there will be little incentive for installation of further coverage.

Coverage maps from Atlas Towers’ first proposal (with 130-150 ‘ towers) can be found here but should be taken with a shaker of salt.  Unfortunately, these are the only coverage maps we have available. http://bcpoa.net/2013/04/possible-cell-tower-coverage/

LIDAR mapping of Bridger Canyon (and beyond)

Craighead Institute is still seeking to aggregate Federal, State, Municipal and private interests in the Canyon to cooperatively raise funds to map the entire Zoning District.  LIDAR mapping would be a benefit to the Canyon for decades to come, providing key baseline data critical to planning for development, climate change, habitat and wildlife preservation, water and air quality.  Contact Kent Madin for more information.

http://www.craigheadresearch.org/bridger-canyon-lidar-project.html

Variance Appeal

With overwhelming support from the membership at last year’s General Meeting, BCPOA has filed a complaint in district court against the county’s handling of a CUP and variance on the Petty property. As is too often the case, this began with construction initiated without permits, and was compounded by county errors and efforts to accommodate the violation. BCPOA is contesting several aspects of the decision. So far, only procedural questions have been considered. Surprisingly, the county (with support of the applicant, as interveners) has fought us tooth  and nail to exclude its own variance application guidelines from the official record and to defend its failure to produce a written decision, which merely refers to the audio record of the hearing. The substantive issues with the decision may not be heard for a considerable time yet. Details are on our web site at bcpoa.net.

Zoning Updates

The Zoning Advisory Board has resolved to submit a complete updated regulation in the next few months. This will address all areas of the Canyon, except for the Bridger Bowl Base Area. The Base Area will be tackled separately, because its complexity would delay implementation of good progress to date, and because there has been no contact with the new Base Area landowner to date.  We will work to be sure that residents are well informed about the changes as soon as a complete draft is ready.

Resources

Our web site, BCPOA.net, is a good resource for zoning documents, canyon history and links, and news. We frequently publish public documents, maps and other material in advance of major zoning actions.

You can follow the progress of the zoning updates on the Zoning Advisory Board’s site, bczoning.wordpress.com.

Planning documents and commission schedules are on the Gallatin County site,  gallatin.mt.gov/planning. The Planning Dept. email address for inquiries and public comment is planning@gallatin.mt.gov

Membership, Dues Notice & Payment Form

BCPOA membership is for landowners in the Bridger Canyon zoning district, from (roughly) Ross Peak Ranch at the north end of Bridger Canyon Road, south to where the Bridger Canyon Road crosses Bridger Creek west of the slide area, east from Bridger Canyon Road to Interstate 90 on the Jackson Creek Road, and east from Bridger Canyon Road to the zoning boundary on Kelly Canyon Road.

Membership supports a variety of community resources, including BCPOA.net, the [canyon] email list, and occasional postal mailings. It also provides leverage for many volunteer hours contributed by BCPOA directors and others, particularly where legal and professional services are needed in defense of our zoning and natural resources.

Join us here!