A jury trial to decide the fate of a county boat ramp on Church Slough got under way Monday, with a developer claiming that he had an understanding that a “full-scale boat ramp” would not be built.

But an attorney representing Flathead County stated in opening arguments that what Dennis Carver wanted is not the issue. Attorney Marcel Quinn said Carver ended up agreeing to provide the land with no conditions attached to an unrestricted deed, allowing the county to provide continued public access to the slough.

In exchange, the county commissioners agreed in 2007 to abandon Wagner Lane, which had previously provided public access to the slough, and they granted plat approval for Carver’s River Vista Estates subdivision.

“He agreed there would be no restrictions on the land,” Quinn said. “Now he’s seeking to renege on the very conditions that the abandonment was granted and the subdivision was granted.”

Quinn noted that the abandonment of Wagner Lane basically allowed Carver to create waterfront lots on the slough where the road had once existed. She said that increased the value of Carver’s property by about $1 million.

Carver’s attorney, Bruce Fredrickson, said in his opening remarks that when his client bought the land in 2006, and then he built his home there in 2008, it was a peaceful and serene place where there might be “a canoe or two on the slough, and maybe a kayak or small fishing boats.”

“That’s what he saw, that’s what he expected to see,” Fredrickson said.

But that changed when the county built the concrete ramp, with eight parking spaces and a turnaround for vehicles, in spring 2010.

Now there are personal watercraft, large fishing boats and ski boats on the water during the summer months, and there have been dogs loose at the access and people who have trespassed on one of his lots adjacent to the ramp, the attorney claimed.

“The county boat ramp is what destroyed the peace and serenity on Church Slough,” Fredrickson said.

He added that an appraiser and a Realtor would testify in support of Carver’s claim that the “boat ramp substantially reduced the value of the lots” he owns on the slough.

Fredrickson went through a chronology of meetings and correspondence leading up to the Wagner Lane abandonment and approval of the subdivision.

The initial abandonment by the commissioners in late 2006 included a condition that the county would provide “substantially the same”  access to the slough that Wagner Lane once provided.

Carver sent a letter to the commissioners on Jan. 26, 2007, stating in part that no ramp would be built. And on Feb. 16 that year, the commissioners met to discuss Carver’s letter.

Fredrickson showed minutes from that meeting indicating that Jed Fisher, the county’s parks director, acknowledged that a simple access to the slough provided at least “substantially the same” and probably improved access compared to what previously existed.

But in her opening remarks, Quinn, the county’s attorney, pointed out that the decision regarding conditions for the ramp and what would be “substantially the same” access “wasn’t up to Jed Fisher.”

She played audio from the Feb. 16 commissioners meeting, at which Commissioner Gary Hall stated that there would be no conditions on the land, essentially rejecting Carver’s terms in his Jan. 26 letter. A motion was made to that effect and the commissioners voted 2-1 to complete the abandonment of Wagner Lane.

Quinn played video from a Flathead County Planning Board meeting a week after the deed for the access was granted to the county. That meeting was attended by Carver and a contracted planner. 

When asked what the boat ramp would look like, the planner said that was a decision to be made by the county parks department. Carver told the planning board that he didn’t want a boat ramp, but he acknowledged that there were no restrictions on the deed.

“There are no conditions, there are no restrictions, there are no prohibitions,” Quinn told the jury.

She also displayed email correspondence between Carver and Flathead Wildlife Inc., a rod and gun club that initially strongly objected to the abandonment of Wagner Lane, promising to take legal action if adequate replacement access was not provided.

The emails showed that Carver and the club came to an understanding that led to the club dropping its objections, and Quinn stressed that the club never would have accepted restrictions on the boat launch.

The question of what is “substantially the same” replacement access, which the commissioners were required to obtain under state law, will likely be an issue during the trial. 

Quinn said she would be calling a witness who will testify about his ability to launch a 20-foot boat from Wagner Lane, and another witness will testify about launching a ski boat from the old access. Carver’s attorneys will attempt to make a case that the old road provided only crude access for small watercraft and ice houses.

The trial is scheduled to last through Friday in the court of District Judge Katherine “Kitty” Curtis.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.