AERO KUFM Commentary Archives

AERO KUFM Commentary

January 13, 2005

Richard Cohen

"Growing Smart in Montana"

One of my favorite books when I was growing up was The Little House, written by Virginia Lee Burton in 1942. It was this wonderful story of a little house in the country, strong and well built. The Little House was a very observant house and curious about the City. Over the years the Little House watched the sun, moon, and stars go by, along with the changing Seasons. Spring with the first Robin, summer with the gardens growing, fall and the first frost, followed by winter with the countryside covered with snow. Over time the countryside slowly changed with growth; the dirt road and the horseless carriage turn into a paved road with automobiles. Everyone and everything moved much faster. Before one knew it, the little house was surrounded by the city with all its lights, noises, big houses and buildings.

The Little House was very sad and lonely. Her paint was cracked and dirty. Then, one nice day the great-great-grand daughter of the man who built the Little House discovered her and because she was built so well, had her moved back out to “just the right place”.

There she could once again watch the sun and moon and stars go by, along with the changing Seasons. Never again would she be curious about the city. Never again would she want to live there. The stars twinkled above her, a new moon was coming up, it was spring and all was quiet and peaceful in the country.

Now this was a book that I could really relate to, especially because my Dad was in the house moving business. But as I grew up, I started relating to the book in another way.

I am currently a licensed electrician and have always been involved in the building trades. Super Insulated homes, sunspaces, grey water systems, composting toilets, earth tubes, air to air heat exchangers, highly efficient appliances, and plant base finishes are the types of things that I am passionate about.

I am also passionate about my community and I am very concerned about the type of growth that is taking place here. Long term planning and working together have taken a backseat to development influenced by personal and political agendas. With the fast pace of growth, Cities and counties need to be working together to address fast growth issues.

When does the road get improved when it is to narrow and over used? When the water table in an area drops, who digs the deeper well? When contaminates show up in your water system, who solves the problem? These are all issues that are all related to planning.

Without a plan in place how do we as a community begin to approach solving these problems?

Without a doubt, the reason people love living here is the quality of life. With growth comes development and development needs to be planned. Without planning, we get water and air pollution, traffic congestion, light and noise pollution and many of those things that affect our health and well-being.

Development needs to be planned in order to protect our beautiful valley. A thoughtful Growth Policy Plan and Smart Growth concepts should be the basis for our long-term planning process.

“Just the right place” is Flathead Valley, Montana along with all those places we call home. This is our best place. We need to nurture and protect it for future generations. Like the Little House, I have been very curious about how to keep Flathead Valley special, yet let it grow. It appears to be becoming like ”Anywhere else USA” with all that is good and bad.

Understanding the value of long term community planning and its relationship to growth is very important. Those leaders in the early 70’s who established the Flathead Regional Development Office in Flathead County should be applauded because they had the vision to plan for the future. Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Bigfork, Somers, Lakeside and West Glacier are all part of this place we call community. By learning from the successes and mistakes of our own and other communities programs, we can create a community that is truly, ”just the right place.”

We need a good, working Growth Policy - one we all understand and follow - in order to sustain the special qualities of our community. Citizen involvement is our challenge and our responsibility. Be involved by attending your council, planning, and commissioners meetings. Ask questions. If its important to you, it deserves to be asked.

For more information about smart growth planning in Montana please go to:

www.mtsmartgrowth.org.

The site is chock full of resources for community planners and individuals. There are samples of what other areas of the state have done to improve their planning process and outcomes. The site also has "best management practices" for use by citizens and planners which can be used in their own communities.

Currently in our legislature Senate Bill 195 The Quality Growth Act is being introduced. It will help Cities and Counties to work together when addressing fast growth issues.

Another resource available from AERO is the full proceedings from the Annual Big Sky Big Sprawl conference.

Smart Growth is not anti-growth.

When her surroundings were no longer good for her, the Little House could be moved. Lets work together so we wont need to call the movers...

I’m Richard Cohen for the Alternative Energy Resources Organization. AERO welcomes your comments and perspectives. AERO is a grassroots membership organization working to help create farm, food, energy and growth solutions for communities throughout Montana. For more information about our programs call us in Helena at 406-443-7272