Learn from Whitefish lake rules

As Flathead County wades into the process of revising county lakeshore protection regulations that haven’t been updated for 13 years, we’re pleased to see that both the county Planning Board and commissioners have expressed a willingness to draw from Whitefish’s lakeshore regulations.

The Montana Supreme Court ruling that ceded planning control in the area around Whitefish from the city to the county created a new world order for lakeshore regulations on Whitefish and Lost Coon lakes.

The Whitefish Lakeshore Protection Committee that had shepherded lakeshore issues for some three decades was disbanded after the court ruling. Lakeshore regulations which that committee had nurtured and updated five times since 2002 also were tossed aside for county property around those two lakes, though the city of Whitefish still will use them for lakeshore permits within their jurisdiction.

Understandably, there was a lot of ill will between the county and Whitefish as the lawsuit over jurisdiction of the area around Whitefish — the “doughnut” — dragged on for years. Collaboration was attempted but never achieved.

As former Whitefish Lakeshore Protection Committee Chairman Jim Stack so aptly put it, the lakeshore regulations “became a casualty in the aftermath” of the court ruling. It’s unfortunate because the two local governments had found a way to work together for 30 years.

It’s no use lamenting about what might have been at this point, though. The county has a real opportunity to extend an olive branch to Whitefish by thoughtfully incorporating some of the best elements from Whitefish regulations into the county regulations.

For the meantime, the county is using its version of lakeshore regulations that were in place for Whitefish and Lost Coon lakes prior to the 2005 interlocal agreement that had put Whitefish in control of its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Those county regulations were put on ice by the interlocal agreement, but now have been “unfrozen” and are back in place for processing lakeshore permits on the two lakes.

But those unfrozen regulations are in place only until the county regulations are revised.

If you’re scratching your head over all of the doughnut aftermath, join the crowd. It’s been anything but uncomplicated.

Here’s the bottom line. No matter who is in charge of lakeshore regulations, the overriding goal remains the same. Our water quality must be protected, whatever it takes.