Variance is denied for animal park

Lake County officials denied a variance Wednesday for a wildlife menagerie proposed for a subdivision near Ferndale.

The 4-0 vote from the county's Board of Adjustment came after a hearing attended by about 20 opponents of the animal park plus three people who were appealing the Lake County planning director's opinion that a Wild Eyes Animal Adventures compound in the Swan Sites subdivision would violate zoning regulations.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials have said that permits for the animal compound probably would not be issued if the operation violated zoning regulations.

But Donnie and Richard Meeks, who were seeking the variance for their property, say the Board of Adjustments ruling is not a dead end for Wild Eyes.

"I'm talking to my attorney about our options," Donnie Meeks said. "It's definitely not a dead end. We also have plans B and C and they are awesome plans."

On the advice of her attorney, Meeks said she could not elaborate on those plans.

Meeks blasted the Board of Adjustments and the hearing process.

"We were blackballed before we got in the door," Meeks said. "For $260, that was a very unfair hearing."

Meeks said board members paid scant attention to the information packets and photographs she provided them, and they rushed her presentation while allowing more than a dozen people more time to voice their opposition to the proposed use for the Meeks' property.

Meeks said she did not have the opportunity to respond to some of the concerns raised by opponents of the Wild Eyes proposal.

Wild Eyes is currently located on Spoon Lake north of Columbia Falls. The owners of the business, which caters mostly to paying wildlife photographers, recently decided to sell their property along with the animals.

As a result, Rod Nelson joined with Donnie and Richard Meeks in proposing an alternative compound near Ferndale. They pursued a seven-month permitting process with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks which led to an environmental assessment and specific security and operational terms for the facility.

As proposed, the compound would accommodate one grizzly bear, eight Siberian tigers, one leopard, two badgers, one mountain lion, one bobcat, one black bear, two wolves, an African lion and a Canadian lynx.

Nelson and his partners have maintained that the new facility would be more secure and provide better conditions for the animals.

But their plan was met with a flurry of opposition from residents in the Swan Sites subdivision.

Subdivision residents were mostly concerned with the facility's security. While there is no record of escapes at the current Wild Eyes facility, even a rare escape would be unacceptable in a residential area, opponents said.

"I think safety was the number one concern," said Susan Shannon, Lake County's planning director.

But residents also raised concerns about the potential for the compound to bring unwanted noise and odors to the neighborhood. Some said the Fish, Wildlife and Parks review process for the operation was inadequate.

And they pointed to the subdivision's zoning regulations, which allow for certain types of service businesses and include specific restrictions on kennels.

Shannon said Board of Adjustment members "felt this type of use was not oriented toward the local neighborhood, so therefore it was incompatible with the intent of the zoning district regulations."

Meeks said she and her husband are mainly interested in the welfare of the Wild Eyes animals.

"Our main purpose in this whole involvement with … Wild Eyes was to give the animals another place to go where they could stay with the handler that they were raised with, which is Rod Nelson," Meeks said. "We were the only ones in the area who were trying to come up with a solution to help the animals. Other people didn't come up with other ideas. All we got was criticism."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com