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March 21, 2007
– committee meeting – thirteen committee members present,
plus 6-7 community members. Terry opened the meeting and we
discussed old business: Kerri opened a bank account at Bank of
Bozeman and our P.O. Box is 705, Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730. Diane
got one quote for around $500 to build a webpage; Christie will
pursue some other avenues with regard to webpage construction. Dick
S., EJ & Christie worked on a survey which will be distributed to
the planners for comments, additions & changes. The survey is our
most important priority at this time: to gage the overall attitude
of “the neighborhood”, solicit the input of every landowner in our
mapped “focus area”, and to formulate a plan of action. We need to
answer the question, “What does Gateway want to be when it grows
up?” Dick B. will look into printing/mailing costs. Doug & Siobhan
presented their mission statement, but decided that may have to wait
for fine-tuning until we receive the results of the survey back.
County planner, Warren
Vaughan, distributed a memo on Planning Process Thoughts which
offered some planning successes (and failures). He said that we
need to ask the big questions, public forums are instrumental in
successful growth plans, find out the demographics and issues, and
most importantly, solicit as much feedback, from as many community
members as is possible. We must start with a community vision.
Mary Ellen Wolfe,
facilitator for the Madison Growth Solutions Process, gave us a
quick overview of her perspective of this group’s progress and
process. Education of land owners in your ‘area’ is first and
foremost. Theirs is not a plan, but a ‘process’, since it is
ever-changing and evolving. At first, zoning was not intended, but
gained much momentum. Keep meetings public, encourage a lot of
dialog, and the meetings should be structured. Use all means
possible to get people involved (one-on-one contacts, fliers, press
releases and surveys). When using surveys, be very clear about how
the survey results will be used and the surveys should be controlled
(numbered). Keep the whole process localized and as intimate as
possible.
Jim Loessberg, Reece
Creek Working Group Chair, spoke of the Reece Creek zoning process.
He offered many good ideas, techniques, and suggestions. Educating
your community members is most important. It is imperative that
committee members are neutral and are willing/able to bring the
views of all community input to the table. In order to gain the
confidence and respect of the community, a list of the group’s
goals/objective and ground rules were posted at every meeting. Use
all resources available (county planners, developers, county
attorney, etc.) to discuss the pros/cons of developing a
neighborhood plan, and perhaps, zoning. Education of your community
is essential. All input should be documented. Community should
know that the committee is present to gather and share information,
and to facilitate the goals of the community. Establish a webpage
where people are free to post ideas/comments/concerns, meeting
minutes, survey results, etc. They convinced landowners they would
be at the mercy of developers and the Gallatin County Commissioners,
with out zoning. Zoning provides predictability. Jim shared their
zoning time line, a copy of a slide show they had presented, and a
large variety of maps (aerials, historical, topographical, proposed
density, waterways, wildlife corridors/density, etc.). They also
documented past growth rate, as well as present trends and projected
growth. The community, Planning Board and GC Commissioners like
maps and slide shows. Keep everyone involved and it will be to your
benefit. They also used a facilitator several times (cost:
$1,000), which proved to be invaluable . . . the facilitator posted
every comment, idea, question etc. and the community was convinced
that the committee was neutral. At one community meeting, every
landowner present was given 10 sticky dots. Around the room posters
were hung that each addressed a different issue (density, water,
noise, school, services, etc.). Everyone went around and placed
their dots wherever they felt were the most important issues to them
personally. At a glance, it was evident which the most pressing
issues were. Jim briefly reflected on money issues. He said they
sought funds from the Planning Board ($500?), donations from the
community, grants, and fund raising events.
Towards the end of the
meeting, Warren quickly discussed Neighborhood Plans versus Zoning.
Neighborhood Plans are broader and more general; they have no
regulatory “teeth”. NPs can only set the stage for future zoning
and that in order to be effective, they really must move on to
zoning. NPs are wish lists, so zoning is pretty much a necessity.
Next meeting is April 4th
at the school. Future meetings will probably be the 1st
and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. It is easier for people
to plan accordingly and we may have more community participation in
that case. EJ requested a copy of the Reece Creek committee’s
ground rules for use at our future meetings. Survey will be
distributed to committee members; return comments/changes/additions
to Dick S. Dick D. will look into printing/mailing survey costs.
Everyone should be thinking about our Mission Statement (suggestions
to Doug & Siobhan). Margaret will get our “focus area” map
laminated. Terry closed the meeting.
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