Bill and Alana Myers want to keep using their Ten Arrows Ranch for wedding celebrations and will present a proposal next week to keep them in the business of making couples’ dreams come true.

The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing on Nov. 21 to consider the Myerses’ request for a conditional-use permit to operate a high-impact recreation and caretaker’s facility.

They had been staging weddings at their property off McCaffery Road the past two summers, but when neighbors began complaining about the noise and disruption, the Flathead County Planning Office investigated and shut down the facility because the property isn’t zoned to hold weddings.

The 40 acres on which the Myerses have lived for 18 years is zoned SAG-5, suburban agricultural with a five-acre minimum lot size. Having a wedding there is not among the permitted or conditional uses recognized in county zoning regulations.

Alana Myers told the Inter Lake in September they had no idea their property wasn’t zoned for weddings when they invested more than $20,000 in the facility.

She said she was shocked to learn that uses such as airfields, golf courses, recreational vehicle parks and even rodeo arenas are allowed as conditional uses in SAG-5 areas — but weddings are not.

“The burden of proof is on them to prove they’re not impacting the neighbors,” Planning Director BJ Grieve said.

The Myerses propose to require a contract signed by each bride and groom that would allow music onsite no later than 10:30 p.m. They also plan to forbid amplification of music during receptions held outside their barn, the building used to house many of the receptions.

In addition, they would hold no more than 25 weddings in a calendar year.

A dust-abatement plan is also part of their proposal. They would apply water to areas where vehicles drive prior to events and would rotate parking spots around the property, according to the application submitted to the Planning Office.

Last summer, several neighbors filed complaints with the county about noise often lingering into the early morning hours and lighted paper lanterns landing on adjacent homeowners’ property that they claimed were a potential fire hazard. Use of the floating lanterns was banned immediately after the complaint.

The Ten Arrows Ranch case has spotlighted a bigger issue in rural areas about how to regulate commercial wedding venues, Grieve said. The Flathead Valley has become a haven for destination weddings on which many small businesses depend for their livelihood.

The Flathead County Planning Board is working on a comprehensive update of zoning regulations and will address commercial wedding facilities at some point.

The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee meets at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at Bethany Lutheran Church, 8559 Montana 35, in the ARC building.

The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Flathead County Board of Adjustment for a final public hearing and decision on Dec. 3.

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