Lawsuit against county resurrected

A long-dormant lawsuit against Flathead County has been removed from suspended animation.

The property rights organization American Dream Montana recently revived its legal opposition to Flathead County's 2007 subdivision regulations.

The original lawsuit was filed on Oct. 18, 2007, to contend that Flathead County's then-new subdivision regulations were illegal. The organization usually opposes any government regulation of land.

American Dream Montana put that litigation on hold while it waited to see how Flathead County commissioners would address unresolved portions of the new regulations.

The most controversial of those loose ends was whether to require newly subdivided lands to follow specific setbacks from rivers and streams. In principle, American Dream Montana opposes any setbacks on newly subdivided land.

Early this month, the commissioners adopted open-ended rules for setbacks -Êessentially saying the county government would deal with setbacks on a case-by-case basis.

On Dec. 18, American Dream Montana filed paperwork in Flathead County District Court to revive its dormant 2007 lawsuit.

"We don't like being regulated with illegal regulations," said Russ Crowder, the organization's president.

Crowder claimed that the county's 2007 and 2008 subdivision regulations have at least 130 items wrong with them. He said they contradict or replace numerous state laws without the proper authority.

The 2007 and 2008 pieces of the subdivision regulations went through several public hearings, scientific debate and numerous revisions.

Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Smith said that Flathead County anticipated that the 2007 lawsuit would be revived, with the county planning to fight it in court.