Judge stops Lake Five development, for now
The plan for the Whistlestop Retreat as it was presented to county commissioners.
A Flathead County judge has granted a preliminary injunction at least temporarily halting any work on a controversial resort on Lake Five near Glacier National Park.
Judge Amy Eddy in a 9-page findings of fact and conclusions of law and order, granted the injunction to Friends of Lake Five on Aug. 8, which stops G&M Trust from developing the Whistlestop Retreat.
GM Trust had received a major land use permit from Flathead County Commissioners earlier this year to build two houses, several rental cabins, an entertainment structure, two pavilions, two non-rental RV spaces and other structures, including a shop on about 24 acres off Grizzly Spur Road on the northwest side of Lake Five near West Glacier.
Dr. Susie Dietz of Anchorage, Alaska heads up the GM Trust and is marketing the property as a vacation destination.
Lake Five is a small lake near West Glacier, with a host of summer homes on its east end. The west end, where the retreat would be located if built, was far more primitive and includes a large wetland.
The Friends of Lake Five, a nonprofit group of local landowners, filed suit shortly the permit was issued.
Eddy’s finding of facts noted many discrepancies with the development, including the fact that the owners continued to develop the land, even after the state Department of Environmental Quality had not approved the septic system back in 2019, which was before they even formally applied for a permit from the county.
Eddy also found that the developer’s permit application did not include a service analysis for the change of use of the property.
“The Flathead County Health Department and Montana DEQ rejected the developer’s post violation compliance proposals for both sewer and water which were made separately from the (county) permit application and without disclosure to the public,” Eddy found.
In other words, commissioners approved the permit, even though its sewer and water plan had already been rejected.
Eddy also found that the road that serves the property has an easement “(that) expressly bars rental or residential use by non-family members, commercial businesses and access for further. In effect, the easement restricts the use of Grizzly Spur Road to one family per lot.”
All told, Eddy’s ruling lays out 40 findings of fact, most of which appear to favor Friends of Lake Five.
In her ruling, Eddy foound that “the plaintiffs have also satisfied their burden to demonstrate Lake Five and its surrounding wetlands are, at the very least, at risk of irreparable harm during the pendency of this litigation,” she ruled.
The injunction doesn’t mean the case is over. It simply stops any work on the project until the legal action is settled, but it does mark a first victory for the Friends of Lake Five.