Lewis and Clark County's controversial interim zoning regulations -- and amendments to those rules proposed last week -- may very well not be a part of permanent, comprehensive zoning regulations, which could be considered by county commissioners by year's end or in early 2009.

Though county officials maintain they're still committed to addressing the groundwater-quality issues that prompted the first passage of interim zoning rules last year, in interviews they said the two packages of rules -- the interim regulations, which expire in May, and the comprehensive rules, proposed by a citizens' working group -- are separate efforts and not necessarily tied to each other.

It's possible that the controversial rules for septic systems, which require higher levels of treatment and more expensive equipment for new installations in the Helena Valley, may no longer be in effect as comprehensive zoning moves forward.

"I do not anticipate the interim zoning regulations being a part of the overall comprehensive zoning," Commission Chairman Ed Tinsley said. "It's possible, it's absolutely possible, but that doesn't look like where we're headed at this point."

County Administrator Ron Alles said he can't predict what the consolidated planning board and the county commission will do with a package of comprehensive rules, which would regulate types and densities of development in the valley, among other things, proposed by the development standards working group, an ad-hoc committee that spent several years trying to reach consensus on permanent zoning regulations for the county.

While the group included a proposed requirement to keep septic-system mixing zones within property lines or easements -- state rules allow mixing zones to cross onto neighboring properties -- the group didn't propose anything similar to the interim zoning rules' wastewater regulations.

"Some comprehensive zoning document at some point in the future may include components of what this interim zoning is about," Alles said. "I can't say for certain that it would."

He said it's not a matter of moving from one document to the other.

"I don't think I ever implied that (the set of interim zoning regulations is) the baseline document, but it isn't," he said. "The interim zoning is the means to mitigate an emergency situation ... and state law only authorizes this one year with a possible second year (which the commission has already used) to address that problem. There's nothing I can do about that."

"It's too soon for us to determine whether we need to take components of this interim zoning and put it into the comprehensive zoning," Alles added. "It's probably something that will come up for consideration, but I just don't know if it will be included or not."

Commissioner Andy Hunthausen also said he's unsure what the future will hold.

"That's hard to predict at this point," Hunthausen said. "In my mind, interim zoning and comprehensive zoning are linked yet completely separate, in that interim zoning was focused on a specific issue."

"Ultimately, the whole point of this thing is that we're trying to make decisions that help enhance our community over the long term and provide water quality and quantity for sustainability," he added.

County Planner Lindsay Morgan said she's going through the working group's document, working to turn the proposals into regulatory language. She said she's being careful not to change the substance of the proposal before it reaches planning board members.

The board will get her document in coming months and hold work sessions and a public hearing before turning the proposal over to the county commission.

Click here to view the zoning amendments.

Click here to view the groundwater study and map.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com