A request for a major land-use permit that would allow for the expansion of a vacation rental retreat on the shore of Lake Five near West Glacier is the focus of a public hearing before the Flathead County Planning Board on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

The property is located at 1449 and 1453 Grizzly Spur and is just over 23 acres in size. Permit applicant Susan Dietz of Anchorage, Alaska, is requesting a permit for five guest cabins to be installed on the property, defined by the county as small detached dwellings “rented for temporary occupancy much like a motel unit.”

The property, known as the Whistle Stop Retreat, currently contains three guest cabins, a boat house, shed, guest caboose, fire tower, shop building, several docks and other features. In addition to the guest cabins, existing and proposed, Dietz intends to have a single-family dwelling on each lot, several RV pads, a pavillion/open air theater and more.

A planning staff report states the property “appears to have been historically used for personal residential and guest use.” And according to the resort’s Facebook page, the property is a vacation home rental and is described as an “amazing retreat on Lake Five just outside West Glacier entrance of Glacier National Park, can be rented nightly as retreat, or individual cabins. You won’t find better lakeside vacation lodging than Whistle Stop.”

According to court documents, the proposal has drawn some opposition.

The Middle Canyon Land Use Advisory Committee met Nov. 20 and voted unanimously to forward a recommendation to deny the permit to the Planning Board. The committee cited septic issues, impacts to the wildlife corridor and nearby wetlands, and other concerns.

Comments from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks also were submitted regarding the proposal. Personnel with the DEQ said “the subdivision application cannot be approved at this time,” as the department needs “additional information to demonstrate compliance with the Sanitation in Subdivisions Act.”

Fish, Wildlife and Parks stated that while it commends Dietz for installing bear-resistant storage on the site, the agency anticipates “further development of this area will result in destruction of wildlife habitat,” among other problems.

The request has also received three written comments from the public, with two of those being in opposition and one in favor. One objection reiterated findings by the advisory committee and the other pointed to problems including access roads, the rural nature of the area and a previous zoning violation.

Between June 28 and July 2, the county Planning and Zoning Department received a signed complaint regarding the construction of two new structures on part of the property. Personnel with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Labor and Industry relayed they had also received complaints for the property and upon visiting the site in late July, noted a rail car on the parcel was under construction and a lookout tower was occupied by a renter.

Montana DEQ and county Planning and Zoning proceeded to send certified letters of violation to Dietz and after making contact with her in early August, Planning and Zoning personnel told Dietz she needed to apply for a major land-use permit and was “advised that she was not allowed to take on any new reservations” and to “cease building any new structures.”

Dietz recently told the Hungry Horse News turning the property into a large-scale tourist retreat is not her intention.

“I am not planning to build a high-density resort at all. If anyone has heard that, it is categorically false. Like thousands of property owners in the Flathead Valley, I intend to offset my mortgage payments by seasonal nightly vacation rentals,” Dietz said.

She added that her ultimate desire is to retire in West Glacier and estimated her property is one of 16 nightly rentals on Lake Five.

But the retreat and Deitz also appear to have received pushback from neighbors in the area, according to the contents of a complaint filed in Flathead County District Court in November.

Dietz filed the lawsuit against more than a dozen individuals, most of whom live within the vicinity of her property. At the core of the lawsuit Dietz alleged several of the defendants trespassed onto her property, claiming several have and continue to drive at a high rate of speed through the area, have discharged firearms on to, across, and at her property, have driven off-road vehicles onto her property, have entered the property “without license for the purposes of harassing and intimidating Plaintiff’s employees and contractors,” and more.

Most of the complaints were directed at a handful of defendants who later filed a counterclaim on the suit. Those neighbors denied most of the major allegations in Dietz’s suit. However, they did partially admit to one major claim of removing speed bumps on the subject property that Dietz had constructed to reduce speeding.

The Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Jan. 8 at the South Campus Building, 40 11th St. W. in Kalispell. A recommendation from the Planning Board will be forwarded to the Flathead County Commissioners for a final decision.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com