By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
The Madison County Commission talked eminent domain on the morning of Feb. 24 in Virginia City. But first, commissioner Duke Gilman clarified his stance on exploring a possible seizure of Jack Creek Road.
“I just want to clarify that point that this isn’t something I have ever considered,” Gilman said. On Feb. 12, fellow commissioner Bill Todd commented in a Montana Senate Taxation Committee hearing that the county is exploring eminent domain of Jack Creek Road, the most direct route between Big Sky and Ennis, and then announced an active exploration of eminent domain, with public discussions starting at a later county work session. Eminent domain, a process in which the government seizes private land for public use, can take years to complete.
Todd opened the Feb. 24 conversation by reading an email received by the Madison County Commission earlier this year from a concerned resident, recommending eminent domain of Jack Creek Road in response to a Big Sky subdivision’s attempt to withdraw from the Madison Valley Hospital District, and to improve emergency evacuation routes. He then invited public commenters to speak, many of which shared concerns of social, environmental and financial impacts of a potential seizure of Jack Creek Road.
Kaye Counts, executive director of a nonprofit called Preserve Raynolds Pass, expressed worries of how converting Jack Creek Road into a public road would impact Ennis, comparing it to Jackson Hole’s effects on surrounding towns like Driggs and Victor, Idaho.
“So you become a bedroom community to a group of people that have a lifestyle that is different from the people in this area,” Counts said. Aside from population changes, some shared their concern for the environmental impacts of a possible road seizure.
Chris Plaut, board president of the Jack Creek Preserve Foundation, read a statement to the commissioners.
“Any development along Jack Creek Road adversely affects the preserve and negatively impacts the myriad of wildlife that live on and pass through the preserve daily,” Plaut stated. The Jack Creek Preserve is a 4,500 acre area protected under a conservation easement and is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
“Any increase in traffic along Jack Creek Road and in construction of the road itself will cause habitat loss and fragmentation for numerous wildlife species,” Plaut stated. “Any serious pursuit by the county of condemnation of Jack Creek Road by eminent domain should be preceded by a thorough, detailed, and impartial public environmental impact study.”
Tim Stultz, a Madison County resident, also warned of expectations in a long and expensive process of eminent domain of the connecting route.
“I think there’s a list of potential downsides of going to a public access road,” Stultz said. “The offset to that is the supposition that if we open that road up, that the other tax issues go away. I’m not convinced that that’s true, and so we should be careful we don’t assume there’s a trade there.”
Property taxes remain a sore subject as a portion of Big Sky residents hope to withdraw from the Madison Valley Hospital District, and redirect dollars to nearer services in Big Sky. At this time, two unsuccessful withdrawal petitions by Big Sky residents, two lawsuits, and proposed legislation, Senate Bill 260, surround the conflict.
Following a merely preliminary discussion, it’s unknown if the Madison County Commission will discuss the possibility of eminent domain in the near future. But Commissioner Todd noted that he was glad to have a conversation and hear from members of the public who opposed the idea.
“I think it’s important that we are able to sit here and constructively have discussions about difficult topics,” Todd said. He said the problems surrounding connectivity between Ennis and Big Sky will continue to be an important discussion years into the future.
“The issue’s not going away. And this is not … a five-year problem, it’s not even a 15-year problem, but it will be addressed in the next 30 to 50 years, especially as the economy diversifies in what is the Madison Valley and in Big Sky,” Todd said. “It’s not the sort of thing that we can ignore.”
