Web site challenges changes to lake regs
By RICHARD HANNERS
Whitefish Pilot
A Web site posted by Whitefish resident Rick Blake is soliciting comments about efforts by the Whitefish Lake and Lakeshore Committee to revise regulations for Whitefish Lake.
Blake responded to the Pilot’s request for someone to identify the people behind what began as an anonymous Web site.
The Web site is registered through Direct Privacy Ltd., a web-hosting company based in the Cayman Islands.
We Love Our Lake’s home page claims committee chairman Jim Stack “is pushing the Whitefish City Council” to revise the regulations in the next three weeks.
“These are major changes,” the Web site says. “There is no reason to rush to change the existing regulations, which have been in effect for years, particularly when most affected lakeshore owners are not in the Flathead Valley right now.”
Stack responded to the claim by noting that “the lakeshore protection committee has been working on this update for almost two years, with plenty of media coverage.”
The committee solicited public input every step of the way and will continue to do so as it works toward finalizing the document, Stack said.
“Adding a month or more to allow the lakeshore committee to hear additional input and possibly address new concerns seems prudent at this point,” Stack said.
The lakeshore committee met Feb. 11 to discuss the proposed changes, but the draft amendments were removed “indefinitely” from the agenda for the Feb. 19 meeting of the Whitefish City-County Planning Board.
Blake told the Pilot he established the Web site “so that people could easily find and read documents concerning the lake and other issues, have a readily available list of e-mail addresses to make their comments or ask questions, and to share ideas.”
He said it was his impression that locals were concerned about the changes to the lakeshore regulations and felt uninformed. Lakeshore property owners didn’t know how to voice their opinions and to whom to direct their questions, he explained.
“Based on very little response so far, it seems the public is thrilled to have such a tool for community input about our lake,” he said.
Blake’s Web site criticizes the amendments, noting that “these proposed regulations propose to fine you up to $500 and put you in jail for 30 days if there are any changes (caused by anything) to the 20-foot lakeshore protection area.”
The Web site includes three “sample” letters people could use to protest the proposed amendments. One letter claims that “it has frequently been the strategic modus operandi to push these type changes through during the October to April season when the absent owner list is the highest.”
Comments to the Web site are automatically forwarded to some government officials, including Whitefish planner Nikki Bond, Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman and Flathead County planner George Smith.
Stack said the committee is not in a rush to get the proposed changes through and welcomes input.
The Web site “was obviously launched as a venomous Web site with no other purpose than to oppose the lakeshore regulations and harass public officials with automatic e-mail forwarding,” he said. “So it’s nice to see it changed 180-degrees into an opportunity for constructive input and comments.”