The Flathead County commissioners will hold a public hearing on Tuesday to consider a major land-use permit involving a lodge near West Glacier.

The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. in the commissioners chambers in Kalispell.

Camp Winnakee, the limited liability corporation that proposes to operate Glacier Guides Lodge on Highline Boulevard just east of Glacier National Park’s entrance, is asking for a major land-use review and permit for an expansion of an existing commercial use greater than 25 percent of existing commercial structures and/or activity areas when the total use area involves more than one acre.

The property is located within the Canyon Area Zoning District.

The lodge opened last summer under the parameters of a minor land-use permit after years of planning and a nearly $1 million investment.

But in August the Flathead County Health Department ordered the lodge to close after officials determined the business failed to get proper permits.

At the time, Health Department Director Joe Russell said sewage treatment permits were granted for a tourist home limited to 12 rooms and 24 occupants. While the number of rooms was in line, Russell said the facility has the capacity to serve additional visitors and should have been permitted as a motel.

Additionally, the lodge had no food or public accommodation licenses, according to the health department.

Russell said in August that an improperly designed septic system, combined with a higher-than-expected occupancy, could overload the system and create a health hazard. Depending on the number of people at the lodge, Russell said the system could exceed wastewater limits by 200 percent.

Russell gave lodge owners Denny Gignoux, Cris Coughlin and Randy Gayner verbal permission to continue operating the lodge until the end of the summer tourism season, according to county planner Allison Mouch, provided they meet certain requirements. The lodge now is reportedly closed.

Gignoux told the Daily Inter Lake in August that he and his partners where caught off guard by the county’s demands and thought they were doing everything right.

“We have no interest in circumventing the system,” Gignoux said.

Both the Middle Canyon Land Use Advisory Committee and the Flathead County Planning Board have recommended approval of the major land-use permit, and the commissioners will have the final say over the lodge operation.

Several neighbors oppose the application because of concerns about water quality and the potential for well contamination as a result of the new septic system built for the lodge.

Testimony from opponents at the Dec. 8 Planning Board meeting indicated another concern focused on the ability of the county and/or state to regulate the 24-guest limit imposed by the state Department of Environmental Quality permit.

There also has been confusion over the zoning violation that occurred because of the lack of proper permits, and questions from the neighbors about why the lodge was allowed to continue operating through the summer. Mouch also cited general frustration from neighbors over the lodge owners’ decision to complete a minor land-use permit for something generally perceived as a major land use from the start.

Some of the confusion apparently stemmed from the owners applying for a bed and breakfast facility at the Planning Office, but informing the Health Department they wanted to operate a tourist home. Bed and breakfast inns and tourist homes are subject to different government regulations.

The major and minor land-use applications are fairly similar, Mouch said, adding that the lodge owners have mitigated or met many of the requirements since August.

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