Lake Five resort case will go to bench trial

A lawsuit filed earlier this year by Friends of Lake Five Inc. against Flathead County will go to a bench trial after each party’s motions for summary judgement were denied by Flathead County District Court Judge Amy Eddy during a pre-trial hearing last week.

The non-profit citizens group challenges the county commissioners’ issuance of a major land use permit allowing G&M Trust to build multiple structures that could serve up to 70 guests at what was to be called the Whistle Stop Resort. The roughly 24-acre property is located off Grizzly Spur Road on the northwest side of Lake Five near West Glacier.

Eddy granted a preliminary injunction late this summer that halted all activities authorized by the county permit after corroborating multiple issues the plaintiff had raised about the permit’s legitimacy.

At the end of September the Flathead County commissioners rescinded the permit.

In early October the county filed a motion petitioning the court to dismiss the case as moot, since the commissioners had revoked the permit.

But some of the development was constructed and is still on the property today, which is the crux of the case going forward.

As such, Friends of Lake Five Inc. filed its own motion of summary judgment, asking the court to sanction the county commissioners and demand they enforce the removal of the structures.

At the recent hearing, Eddy heard both parties’ oral arguments in defense of their motions.

Friends of Lake Five attorney Cliff Hayden argued the county’s decision to rescind the permit, rather than rendering the lawsuit moot, was itself an admission of the commission’s negligence in improperly issuing the permit in the first place.

“We would like to see the county go ahead and do their job,” Hayden said in response to a question from Eddy that attempted to clarify exactly what type of relief Friends of Lake Five Inc. was seeking through the suit.

Even though the county rescinded the permit, the reasons for the rescission linger, and that “unless and until Flathead County requires G&M Trust to remove the improperly constructed structures, the violations remain unresolved.”

Allowing the county to issue permits errantly, then claim “mootness” by rescinding faulty permits only after facing legal action would set an ineffective precedent for growth management in the valley, Hayden maintained.

“It’s something that can be repeated. This is a determination that’s going to come back over and over with the growth that we’re seeing in this county,” Hayden told the judge.

Eddy delayed judgment on both motions, setting a non-jury trial date for late August 2021.

Eddy also approved a motion for intervention by attorney Sean Frampton on behalf of Susan Dietz, executor of G&M Trust. Frampton argued that “[none of] the parties can be afforded complete and fair relief without their [G&M Trust’s] participation in this matter.”