Proposed changes to Lewis and Clark County's subdivision regulations prompted a slew of complaints and suggested changes from varied corners of the community - including builders and Consolidated Planning Board members - along with repeated pleadings to allow developers, Realtors, attorneys and residents to help reshape the draft revision.

More than 20 people spoke at a two-hour-long public hearing Tuesday, with most speakers opposed to the proposal. A few spoke in support and others offered suggestions and advice but didn't pick a side.

Lewis and Clark County commissioners afterward agreed to meet with some of the speakers next week and invite the public in an effort to sort out the issues.

"I'm glad that we've got the time," Commissioner Ed Tinsley said. "We'd like to sit down with some of those people" who opposed or suggested changes to the current draft.

Commissioners will meet Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City-County Building. The county will accept written public comments until Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Commissioners want to render a final decision Dec. 11. The meeting may be lengthy because commissioners will have to make the changes at that time before approving the revisions.

The regulations, which govern the subdivision process and requirements for potential developers, were last amended in February 2005.

The proposed rewrite includes a number of changes in how county officials would attempt to address the community's beleaguered road network, protect water supplies and mitigate fire hazards.

But opponents like Michael Kakuk, an attorney representing the Helena Association of Realtors, said a number of the proposals are either illegal - because the county would overstep its bounds by going further than state law requirements - or unworkable, due to what Kakuk and others consider vague language and less communication between developers and planners.

"At this point it would be appropriate to better involve the regulated community," Kakuk said - meaning "all of us."

While consensus is unlikely on some issues, he said, other problems he sees in the regulations could be addressed at a roundtable.

He and others said efforts by the county to attempt to have developers prove adequate water exists for proposed subdivisions would be illegal at worst and problematic at best. Kakuk and planning board member Gus Byrom said water-supply issues should be left to the Department of Environmental Quality.

Holding hearings on water supply at the county level could result in "dueling hydrologists" with polar opinions about similar data and potential lawsuits, Kakuk said.

"This is such a technical area that I believe it should fall solely under the responsibility of the state," Byrom said in written comments.

Opponents claimed a requirement to pave all internal roads in new major subdivisions and in so-called subsequent minor subdivisions - small developments on or adjacent to property that already had been subdivided - would end all chances for small subdivisions, increase the cost of housing in the valley and put undue burden on families seeking rural subdivisions in places like Lincoln and Augusta.

A number of speakers also complained about the apparent commingling of zoning requirements, subdivision regulations and building codes in the proposed document. They said the rules would do more than allowed under state law.

Developer Ron Bartsch said the document was confusing to navigate and asked commissioners to involve different people in the process.

"They're not zoning, they're not building codes - they're subdivisions of land," Bartsch said. "Though I commend the effort, please do realize there is a lot of conflicting information ... challengeable information ... misinformation in this document.

"Please do incorporate the community in this process," he added. "It'll lead to a much better outcome."

Rob Martin, who represents the Helena Building Industry Association on the Development Standards Working Group - a committee of builders, smart-growth advocates, local officials and others who are working to draft new zoning options for the Helena Valley - said the proposed subdivision regulations undermine many of the compromises reached by the group.

He said much of the language regarding building setback requirements, water rights, roads and the protection of agricultural land has been worked over by the group, but none of the compromises are included in the subdivision rules.

In an interview, Martin said the new zoning regulations and the subdivision rules should be implemented at the same time in order to address the issues in a holistic way.

"I think they all need to come together in one piece, because there's so much overlap between the two of them," he said.

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