State denies mass liquor-license request
A distance of 158 feet has put seven liquor licenses out of reach for applicants at a single location west of Kalispell.
The Montana Department of Revenue issued an order Wednesday denying the seven applications, based on a state-commissioned survey showing that the location - 151 Managhan Lane - falls within Kalispell's five-mile "doughnut area" where only a limited number of all-beverage liquor licenses are issued and none are currently available.
The group of seven had applied March 8, 2004, for far less expensive licenses that were available in the county. The applicants said they intended to establish a wine and "high-end liquor" tasting facility at the location.
The applications attracted roughly 700 protests, mostly from people who questioned the need for seven liquor licenses at one location.
Many of those who protested saw the applications as nothing more than a manipulation of state regulations to acquire inexpensive county licenses and have them converted - through eventual expansion of city limits - into valuable licenses that can be be bought and sold within Kalispell and its five-mile perimeter.
Neil Peterson, administrator of the Department of Revenue's Customer Service Division, said the license rejection was based on a survey commissioned by the Montana Department of Justice last fall.
"They hired a surveyor who used the radial survey method and found that as of March 8, at the time the applications were submitted, the distance [of 151 Managhan Lane] from the city was 4.97 miles," Peterson said.
And that puts the location in the Kalispell liquor-license quota area, where no licenses are available, Peterson said.
According to one of the applicants, Darren "Rick" Breckenridge, the department's ruling means little because the applicants asked their attorney to withdraw the applications in December.
But Peterson said the department had never received any such request.
"The hearings officer wouldn't have issued the order had they made a request to withdraw the applications. That would be news to me," Peterson said. "We did not receive a request."
The Justice Department survey apparently contradicted a survey conducted earlier by Breckenridge, a professional surveyor.
Breckenridge said his survey showed that 151 Managhan Lane was 50 feet outside the five-mile perimeter.
He added that he's not surprised that two surveys produced different results because they are grounded on a part of Kalispell's western boundary that has been in dispute in several previous surveys, including one conducted by the Montana Department of Transportation.
"If I were to challenge [the ruling], I would challenge it on those grounds," he said.
But Breckenridge said he and the six other applicants do not intend to challenge the ruling.
They decided to withdraw the license requests because it became apparent that getting adequate well water for the property would be difficult and expensive, Breckenridge said.
There are water availability concerns in the area around Managhan Lane that have attracted oversight from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the Department of Environmental Quality.
Developers of two nearby subdivisions had to conduct expensive water availability tests, Breckenridge said, and those tests would have to be repeated at the Managhan Lane property. Providing adequate water at the property also would require an "expensive expansion of the existing well at the property."
The Managhan Lane property is owned by Jim Glantz of Kalispell, according to public records. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The liquor-license applicants were James A. Glantz for an establishment called Al Co Hall; James W. Glantz for Cabernet Club; Kimberly Glantz for Port Inn; Peggy Mathiason for Shabby Sister; Breckenridge for Dollar Bills; Toby Glantz for Club Chianti and Barbara Riley for Cya & Drink.
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com