The city of Whitefish supports most of Flathead County’s proposed changes to county lakeshore regulations, but is taking exception to one potential change regarding docks that could have unintended consequences on Whitefish Lake, the city planning director said.

The county commissioners on Monday will continue discussion and possibly vote on changes to the county’s lakeshore regulations. Public comments will be taken at 8:45 a.m., with the commissioners’ discussion at 10:30 a.m.

Whitefish Planning Director David Taylor wrote to the commissioners last week, saying he is concerned about discussion at a June 29 public hearing during which two of the commissioners said they would like to see language in the county regulations that would exclude docks or other items outside the county’s jurisdiction — below mean low water in the case of Whitefish’s jurisdiction — from counting toward constructed area for county lakeshore properties.

“That course of action may create several concerning issues for county staff and your constituents that you should consider,” Taylor said in a letter to the commissioners.

“Not counting the constructed area of docks below mean low water will effectively double the amount of constructed area county residents can have in the Lakeshore Protection Zone, which over time will have a disastrous effect on the water quality of Whitefish Lake,” Taylor stated.

The city of Whitefish will continue to count the total constructed area of all paths, walkways, patios, boat houses, retaining walls, and other items in the Lakeshore Protection Zone along with the square footage of docks, he said. County residents will be able to receive permits from the county Planning Office to construct up to their total constructed area without counting docks, but when they apply to Whitefish for their dock permit, they will be denied because they have used up all their constructed area on land, Taylor said.

“There may be a considerable number of county property owners penalized because they will no longer have the constructed area available for a dock, having used it all up landward legally under county regulations,” he said. “This makes the process more unwieldy than it already is.”

Taylor said the city has not yet received any complaints from dock installers or county residents about a two-permit system. However, he cautioned that “savvy county residents will figure out a loophole end-around to double their allowed constructed area.

“The proposed change to ignore dock constructed area over the lake will add confusion and will solely impact county residents as well as the overall water quality of Whitefish Lake,” Taylor said.

Flathead County has been working on an update of county lakeshore regulations since the Montana Supreme Court ceded planning control of the area around Whitefish to the county. As the county worked to put county zoning in place in the Whitefish “doughnut,” the process also involved integrating Whitefish and Lost Coon lakes into county regulations.

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