Planning Board supports changes to lakeshore regs

A lawsuit over a controversial cabin development in West Glacier has prompted the Flathead County Planning Board to recommend tightening the county's lakeshore protection regulations.

A group called the Friends of Lake Five sued the county almost a year ago in Flathead County District Court, alleging it illegally granted permits for various structures at the lakeside Whistlestop Retreat.

As part of ongoing mediation aimed at settling the case, the county agreed to stop issuing administrative permits for certain lakeshore projects, Planning and Zoning Director Mark Mussman said Wednesday.

Administrative permits are granted by the Planning and Zoning Department for minor projects without consideration by the Planning Board; board hearings are a longer process that typically involves more opportunity for public comment.

Starting in 1989, Mussman said, the county routinely granted administrative permits for certain lakeshore construction projects, including single residential docks, free-standing pilings adjacent to docks, utility lines, ground-mounted decks, walkways, shore stations or boat lifts, small-scale tree and vegetation removal, and the installation of riprap (rocks laid on the shore to prevent erosion).

On Wednesday, Mussman presented the Planning Board with proposed changes to the county's lakeshore protection regulations, which would formally require the board's approval for any lakeshore projects. The proposed changes also spell out a new appeals process for neighbors who oppose such projects.

In a memo to the board, Mussman wrote that state law describes a procedure for the county "to permit work if it finds the work has a minimal or insignificant impact on a lakeshore," but "county legal staff concluded that Montana code does not allow the planning department the ability to issue lakeshore construction permits."

The Planning Board voted in favor of the proposed changes after no comment from the public or board members, forwarding a positive recommendation to the county commissioners for final approval. Mussman said his department already stopped issuing administrative permits for the kinds of projects in question late last summer.

Complaints of building and permitting violations have become a hot-button issue around Lake Five, highlighting shortcomings of the county's complaint-driven code enforcement system.

Before the Friends of Lake Five group sued the county over the Whistlestop Retreat, the retreat's owner, Susan Dietz, had filed suit in November 2019, seeking to move a road easement and accusing neighbors of trespassing and harassment.

In May 2020, Dietz filed a complaint about the Lake Five Resort, saying it failed to secure the mandatory permits for multiple docks, swim platforms and buoys marking the resort's swim area. The county agreed with Dietz, and soon afterward the Montana Department of Environmental Quality notified the resort of another violation: the business allegedly created enough RV spaces to qualify as a subdivision, violating the state Sanitation Act.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com