Planning board OK’s Lake Five docks, controversy continues

The Flathead County Planning Board on Wednesday recommended the county approve a controversial boat dock on Lake Five. Susan Dietz is seeking a permit to install a floating dock, a boat lift, a stairway and a swim platform off one of two 11.5-acre parcels that make up the Whistlestop Retreat on the west shore of Lake Five.

County planning staff reported the T-shaped dock would extend about 43 feet from the shore. Dietz, an emergency- room doctor in Anchorage, Alaska, purchased the two parcels at 1449 and 1453 Grizzly Spur Road in 2018. Her plans to develop rental cabins on the land have drawn backlash from neighbors, some of whom formed a group called the Friends of Lake Five and sued the county last year. They alleged the county had illegally permitted various structures on Dietz’s property, and during litigation the county rescinded a major land-use permit for the retreat.

The parties are working toward a settlement, but two opponents of the project, Mike Kopitzke and Leon Pinski, addressed the board saying a preliminary injunction ordered by District Court Judge Amy Eddy should preclude the Planning Board from approving the boat dock and swim platform.

“There’s been a great deal of confusion about docks and this whole proposal,”

said Kopitzke, who lives with his wife, Kelly Kopitzke, on an adjacent lakeshore property. “We really shouldn’t be taking any action on this because the county commissioners have revoked the major land-use permit, and they’re right in the middle of litigation.”

But planning staff reported Dietz’s newer, narrower request is not subject to the lawsuit.

Planning and Zoning Director Mark Mussman told the board he had consulted the county attorney’s office, which has contracted outside lawyers to assist with the case, and they determined the new application should be processed. “If we were advised to put a hold on processing these permits by the attorneys handling the litigation, then we wouldn’t be here tonight,” Mussman said.

Pinski — who lives in Kalispell and whose wife, Jean Pinski, is listed as the president of the Friends of Lake Five — addressed the board for nearly 20 minutes before board member Greg Stevens asked that Pinski “wrap it up.”

That prompted a brief, testy exchange in which Pinski asked, “Is that right? You’re done?” and Stevens loudly replied, “No, you’re done!”

Pinski continued speaking for another two and a half minutes, urging the board to reject the dock proposal. Later, Stevens said he had interrupted Pinski because everyone who addressed

the board on other matters Wednesday night was allotted only three minutes to speak. Stevens also said arguments about the lawsuit are beyond the Planning Board’s purview. “None of us on this board are attorneys,” Stevens said.

“And when we start talking and talking and talking and talking and talking about legal matters, there’s nowhere that we have to go.

Because we’re not attorneys, we have no basis upon which to make judgments one way or the other. Typically, we rely on our planning staff and our county attorneys for that, and we don’t typically get involved too much in them.” The board voted 5-0 to recommend the commissioners approve the permit, adding a requirement that Dietz’s swim platform be no more than 8 feet long and 8 feet wide. She has objected to that condition.

The matter now goes onto county commissioners for consideration.