Agreeing it posed undo restrictions on private property rights, the Flathead County commissioners on Monday unanimously rejected a text amendment that would have banned temporary structures in the North Fork Zoning District’s 150-setback from public roads and bodies of water.

The North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee had asked for a zoning text amendment that would require temporary structures to abide by designated setbacks. The amendment also would have provided a definition for temporary structures.

The request stemmed from an alleged 2009 zoning violation in which a shed on skids was placed in the 150-foot setback along the North Fork Road. Jeff Harris, then the zoning administrator, determined the temporary structure didn’t need to conform to setbacks because it wasn’t a permanent building.

Advisory committee members, as well as many North Fork residents, however, said it was their understanding that the intent of the setback requirements covered both permanent and temporary structures.

During Monday’s public hearing, North Fork residents Greg and Beth Puckett asked the commissioners to deny the proposal, arguing that it would prevent them from being able to use a sizable chunk of their property. And since they live along the paved portion of the North Fork Road, they asked that their property be exempted from the text amendment if it passed.

Greg Puckett said he believed the proposal was the result of a small group of people, namely the land-use advisory committee, trying to fundamentally change the North Fork Neighborhood Plan.

“This is not landowner-driven and this committee doesn’t represent me,” he said.

The Pucketts argued the text amendment would force landowners to go through the costly process of getting variances for structures such as wood sheds, gazebos or doghouses.

Gary Krueger, a West Valley property owner, said he also opposed the North Fork zoning amendment because it breached property owners’ rights “for no good and no legal reason.

“Where are committees given the right to regulate private property for a vista?” Krueger asked.

He also took issue with the Planning Office staff report that contended the zoning amendment was a health and safety issue because of dust from the North Fork Road.

“It’s not a safety issue for a wood shed,” he said.

Randy Kenyon, a member of the North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee, said he was “shocked and disappointed at the sinister characterization” of the land-use committee’s process. He maintained the committee simply wants zoning regulations to reflect the original intent of the setback requirement.

Land-use committee member Molly Shepherd sided with Kenyon, reminding the commissioners they appointed the committee to guide land-use issues in the unique rural area of the North Fork. The text amendment was the committee’s solution to “closing what amounts to a loophole” in the zoning regulations.

Most of the public testimony at the Planning Board’s hearing in December favored the zoning amendment, and since then the Planning Office has gotten another dozen letters in support.

The Planning Board struggled with the issue, though, narrowly recommending it by a 4-3 vote.

Commissioner Jim Dupont, who said he used to have a place up the North Fork, said he opposed the amendment largely because of how he believes it would impede property rights.

“But more so, there is no safety issue,” Dupont said.

Dupont also said the parameters of the proposed definitions are unclear.

“Does it mean I can’t put a tent on the river?” he asked.

Commissioner Pam Holmquist, also said she felt it restricted property rights and didn’t see a problem with doghouses, gazebos and other temporary structures in a rural area like the North Fork.

It’s the second time in recent months the commissioners have voted in opposition to proposals supported by both the North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee and the Flathead County Planning Board.

In December 2010 a zoning proposal to limit the size of extractive industries on private land in the North Fork was voted down for a second time.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.