The Montana Supreme Court ruled this week that three families who wanted to intervene in the approval of a North Hills subdivision made by the Lewis and Clark County Commission missed their opportunity to do so.

Ron and Vivian Drake, William and Beverly Herman and Melvin and Sandra Beattie asked the Supreme Court last year to overturn a decision by District Court Judge Thomas Honzel. Last summer, Honzel denied the three families' legal request to intervene in the commission's actions regarding the 39-lot Frontier subdivision by developer Kim Smith, saying the families hadn't filed their motion in a timely manner.

Judge Honzel had added that if the families believed the agreement and the proceedings leading up to it violated the law, they were free to file a separate action challenging the decision to grant Smith preliminary approval for his proposed subdivision on 40 acres near Applegate Drive and Lincoln Road.

Vivian Drake said they have filed the separate action and the case is set to be heard next spring in district court. At this point, the subdivision remains on hold pending that court case.

In the Supreme Court opinion filed on Tuesday, Justice James Nelson wrote that the court holds that Honzel didn't abuse his discretion in denying the motion to intervene. He noted that the standard is whether the district court judge "acted arbitrarily without employment of conscientious judgment or exceeded the bound of reason resulting in substantial injustice."

Nelson said that contrary to the families' contention that negotiations between Smith and the county regarding the subdivision has just gotten under way in May 2007, they had in fact been taking place for seven months and that at least Vivian Drake was aware of the negotiations.

"As the county pointed out in its brief on appeal, to allow intervention at the time the motion was filed 'would have derailed months of settlement negotiations between the parties.'

"We conclude that to return this matter to the trial court would perpetuate the delay, circuity and multiplicity of suits that are to be avoided when deciding whether to allow intervention," Nelson wrote.

The agreement between the county and Smith came after a three-year dispute over the Frontier subdivision. Opponents said not enough groundwater exists in the area to support the development, and accused county officials of failing to adequately involve the public.

County commissioners initially rejected Smith's development because they said he hadn't proved adequate groundwater existed to support the homes and businesses that would be constructed there. Smith filed a lawsuit in 2004 and asked commissioners to reconsider their decision late last year, which prompted the negotiated settlement. In it, Smith was granted preliminary plat approval, with some new conditions.

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com