Landowners need to work with public

Once again the issue of public land and private property owners is coming to a head.

Lake County recently closed the access to the Swan River off of Rainbow Drive after neighboring property owners objected to the county park board over ongoing parking and litter problems at the site.

As Yogi Berra once said, it’s like déjà vu all over again.

Just as private developers on the north shore of Flathead Lake have sought to have Flathead County abandon a roadway to Flathead Lake, the folks in Ferndale want to keep their neighborhood pristine and quiet for the two months out of the year that the Swan River access gets used.

Problem is, they have no legal base to stand on. And the Lake County commissioners, stuck between a rock and tough decision, made the call to close the access temporarily until they figure out what to do.

This issue is not going to go away, and selling the land to the neighbors is not an option, in our opinion.

That’s what Flathead County did over the years, and look what it’s gotten us: one county park on Flathead Lake, and that’s in Lakeside. Volunteer Park in Lakeside exists only because a private family purchased the lakefront property and donated it to Flathead County. While Flathead County has squandered its land on Flathead Lake, Lake County has held on to its land around the lake and is actively (although belatedly) trying to do something with it. Some of the parcels are tiny, and adjacent landowners have absorbed the slivers of land into their own domains for things like decks, sheds and pump houses.

As for private landowners who own property next to a public access, there’s a great solution: sell your land, or accept the fact that you purchased, in good faith, said land.

God forbid the unwashed should have fun on public land adjacent to private property.

Private property owners who bought land next to public land need to work with the governing entity or stakeholders to create a solution. Gating the access is not a solution.

It’s only delaying the inevitable public pushback.

It’s not the Fourth of July yet.

But when warmer weather arrives and people want to get on the Swan River in Ferndale, the fireworks are really going to fly.

— the editor