Commission to look at oversight of houseboats on Flathead Lake

A pair of houseboats stationed along Flathead Lake’s north shore may rankle some lakefront property owners, but for now the floating homes appear to operate in a legal “no-man’s land,” where agencies lack any regulatory authority to manage the vessels’ presence.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission’s monthly meeting Thursday will include a discussion on the live-aboards and what oversight options might exist for Fish, Wildlife and Parks — one of a handful of agencies with little to no say over whether and how long the floating structures can remain.

Somers resident Jim Thompson submitted a petition to the state wildlife board asking the commission to draft rules limiting the amount of time boats may remain anchored in one place on Flathead Lake. The agenda item notes that the board lacks the authority to do so.

“I have a real concern that they are in fact in front of the public beach, in front of people’s properties and no one can do anything about them,” Thompson said in an interview. “Flathead Lake is public water, and I just don’t think they should be able to turn it into their personal campground.”

Thompson is among several owners of coveted — and accordingly priced — lakefront property in Somers and Lakeside that have expressed frustration with the imposition on their viewsheds, and worry it could become a trend.

“First we have one, then we have two, and the next thing we know they look like the houseboats in Seattle and Sausalito,” Thompson said, referring to a pair of high-profile battles over property rights waged between houseboat communities and waterfront residents.

BEN LARD, who owns the houseboat moored to a private pier in Somers Bay, said he’s gone out of his way to allay the community’s concerns, including renovating the vessel since he purchased it at the beginning of the year.

“I’ve actually tried to talk to them and be nice with everyone. I grew up here and I know a lot of people here,” he said. “It kind of took me by surprise.”

Lard’s great-grandfather also owned a houseboat on Flathead Lake, for which the Kee O Mee II is named. He said that acquiring his floating home was the realization of a dream to pass the unique experience on to his family.

“I really thought it was kind of fitting, because it’s been 80 years since my grandpa’s boat sank. That’s why it just struck a chord with me,” he said. “I always had my grandma tell me about this amazing childhood and always getting to play on this houseboat.”

After a few years spent traveling the country, Lard returned to Lakeside two years ago with his wife and children.

“The property values on the lake were just crazy, and I’ve always dreamed of being able to live on the lake but didn’t know how I could ever afford that.”

Opportunity struck when he found a houseboat for sale. After researching the pertinent regulations, or lack thereof, he decided to fix it up as a rental property while maintaining a property on the lake. Currently, the live-aboard is listed on the vacation-rental-by-owner website, VRBO.com, for $300 per night.

“It really is uncharted territory. I talked to Tony Price, the owner of the other boat, and found out what to expect,” Lard said. “Tony told me right away that you’re going to have people at the yacht club that aren’t going to like it, that are going to be filing complaints.”

WHILE THERE have been complaints, they’ve largely disappeared into the lake’s regulatory void.

Todd Tillinger, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the federal agency’s jurisdiction over navigable waterways, created by the federal Rivers and Harbors Act, does not extend to Flathead Lake.

And the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which has control over the lakebed below the historic low-water mark, can only flex its authority once someone attempts to build or place a permanent structure at the bottom of the lake.

“All of these agencies have some indirect tie to the houseboating issue, but none have any direct authority,” said Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional fisheries manager Mark Deleray.

Tasked with regulating boats in Montana, the state wildlife agency’s authority is limited to safety requirements, such as maintaining life vests on board and sufficient visibility at night, according to regional Game Warden Cpt. Lee Anderson,

“I think that’s been the frustrating part for citizens,” Anderson said. “It’s just one of those places that looks like it’s in a no-man’s land.”

Flathead County officials have been similarly confounded by the apparent jurisdictional void. Flathead Lake is unzoned, and the county’s lakeshore protection regulations are limited to a buffer extending 20 feet landward and 100 feet lake-ward from the shore’s high-water mark, according to planning director Mark Mussman.

Pam Holmquist, the chair of the Flathead County Commissioners, said residents have also brought up the issue multiple times during commissioner meetings.

“Right now, from what I’m getting, it’s really a gray area (as to) who would really be in charge of that,” Holmquist said.

The state Department of Environmental Quality received a formal complaint earlier this year alleging that Lard was illegally dumping sewage in the lake. The department enforces water quality criteria in Montana’s waters, but ultimately found Lard to be in compliance with septic-pumping requirements.

Thompson, who referred to the live-aboards as “floating time bombs,” isn’t the only local expressing concerns about the vessels degrading Flathead Lake’s renowned water quality.

Caryn Miske, the Flathead Basin Commission’s executive director said the cumulative effects of relatively minor leaks could still pose a problem if houseboating becomes a trend.

“Even with proper disposal of sewage from those vessels, and we’re talking very large holding tanks, in a place where you have a proliferation of those houseboats, lines leak,” she said. “It’s not necessarily due to someone trying to get around the disposing of their sewage properly if it’s an infrastructure malfunction.”

Miske said she’s been in talks with Mark Noland, a state House representative who resides in Bigfork, to pursue a legislative fix. The Republican legislator said he plans to address the issue once the 2017 Legislature convenes in January, but declined to provide details on possible legislation.

“I thought there was an answer, and now that I’ve inquired to everybody, there isn’t one,” Noland said. “There’s an issue of what’s fair, of ‘Why should they get to have their houseboat sitting there for 18 months when I’m paying taxes and I get to look at this eyesore.’ ... I’m hoping that will be addressed this time and we’ll get it handled.”

Miske envisions a bill that will give authority to Fish, Wildlife and Parks. She also floated the possibility of an interim committee to study how to best regulate the vessels.

“We don’t have to recreate the wheel,” she added. “Places in the Southwest have been dealing with this issue for a long time.”

LARD SAID he’s tried to be open with local residents, and hopes to work with his neighbors to find a middle ground. Moving the structure off the lake isn’t feasible, he said, and he doesn’t view his situation much differently from sailboats that are allowed to anchor indefinitely in one spot.

“I feel a lot of pressure and a lot of anxiety, because I know there are people highly opposed to it that said they will do anything they can to get me kicked off the lake,” Lard said. “Until I’m actually infringing on anybody else’s rights, I don’t see why they need to come in and infringe on mine.”

Thompson counters that the presence of live-aboards off the North Shore is directly impacting tax-paying property owners who pay a high price for their slice of the lakeshore.

“If you had a nice piece of lakeshore property and this guy pulled up in front of your place, what would you think?,” he said. “It’s just beyond my comprehension that anybody would say that’s a right, to just go anchor their boat on the lake in front of someone else’s property without their approval.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.