Judge upholds Columbia Falls Community market lease, for now

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison on Friday issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against O’Brien Byrd, Three Byrds Properties and North Fork Intuition that upholds a lease on Byrd’s property at O’Brien’s Liquor and Wine held by the Columbia Falls Community Market.

The injunction, in short, allows the market to continue to use the property, at least for this week.

“It appears to the court that plaintiff (the market) has demonstrated a prima facie case for defendant’s (Byrd’s) unilateral modification of the leasehold as a breach of the terms of the lease agreement making it likely that plaintiff will prevail on its claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Defendants’ modification of the leasehold results in CFC Market’s inability to conduct its market which could result in a loss of vendors, sponsors, and partners and a loss of the market altogether for the season given that the litigation will take time,” Allison ruled. “The balance of the equities tip in favor of the CFC market which seeks only to conduct its business pursuant to the original lease agreement. Defendants have acted unilaterally and leased the same premises to more than one party … An order preserving the status quo will allow the market to operate. Having the market operate is in the public interest as is avoiding a potential breach of the peace over the market being forced to cease operations.”

A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 19 in front of Allison. The hearing allows both sides to state their case as to why the restraining order should, or should not, not remain in place.

The market plans on returning this week to the Byrd property, but is actively pursuing a different permanent location, director Melissa Ellis said Monday.

The market filed suit against O’Brien Byrd, Three Byrd’s Properties and North Fork Intuition on May 26, claiming the Byrd and his partners broke the five-year lease the market renewed in April 2022 for use of the property.

The nonprofit market has leased the property for the past eight years.

The market, which is every Thursday night from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. is required to pay $350 rent per market, plus other expenses, like utilities and a cleaning fee.

According to the market’s complaint, on Nov. 30, 2022, North Fork Intuition, a company that Byrd is part of, filed a boundary line adjustment that removed “the Coop building and its paved lot from the Market’s leasehold property and attached it to the the property abutting it to the north” at 118 8th Street West.

Byrd and partners then leased the Coop to a Johnathan D. Shockey, according to court documents. Since then, the Coop has advertised live concerts at the Coop through the summer, including on market night.

The market alleges Byrd then tried to get the market to sign an amended lease without the Coop property in April of this year.

The Market refused to sign the amended lease.

Shockey is the founder of Under the Big Sky, a large musical event every summer in the Flathead. The Coop is now also advertising live music and food trucks on Thursday nights and through the weekends, separate from the Community Market.

Since then, Byrd, in turn, claimed the market has broken the 2022 lease agreement — claiming the market didn’t pay $350 in rent for the May 18 market. Byrd also claim the Market tried to serve liquor on the premises May 18 “in a manner that violated federal, state or local regulations” which was also a violation of the lease, he claimed.

In addition, Byrd also claims that the market, through its agent, Ellis, “has made false and defamatory statements regarding NFI and its member, O’Brien Byrd” on social media and elsewhere.”

“I discovered (June 1) that the market has sued me personally and my businesses. The market never had the exclusive right to use the Coop on market nights. Market leadership also refused to work with the vendor in the Coop who operates the liquor license. Besides failing to timely make rent payments required by the lease, market leadership took actions that, if allowed to continue, would violate and potentially compromise the liquor licenses operating at our place of business. Some of the statements made by market leadership on social media were also inaccurate or incomplete, and, I believe, were intended to damage me and my businesses,” Byrd said partially in a statement on Friday.

His full statement is here.

The lawsuit itself will likely take months, if not more, as the market is seeking a jury trial in the matter.