The North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee has withdrawn an appeal it had submitted regarding recent interpretations of North Fork zoning regulations that were made by planning and zoning officials.

The appeal was scheduled to be reviewed by the Flathead County Board of Adjustment Tuesday evening, but was removed from the agenda at the last minute.

The committee had taken issue with several determinations involving a recent application for a conditional-use permit that would have allowed for a yoga retreat center in Polebridge. The application was denied by the board during its August meeting on multiple grounds.

Flathead County Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Mark Mussman sent a letter to those applicants after their permit was denied Aug. 4, outlining various permitted uses available on the property, which contains a single-family dwelling, canvas tents on wooden platforms, a cabin and more. In his letter Mussman determined one rental cabin would be allowed per parcel in conjunction with a single-family dwelling and that canvas wall tents could be used as a guest cabin.

In the now-withdrawn appeal, the committee had argued these findings. For example, they stated Mussman had erred in determining a tent could be a guest cabin because a canvas tent does not meet the county’s definitions for “structure” or “building” and therefore, cannot be considered a guest cabin.

Mussman had suggested in a later memo that if the committee is unhappy with the wording of North Fork zoning regulations, “the most appropriate means to correct the issue is to propose a text amendment,” as opposed to filing an appeal.

Mussman said he is not exactly sure why the committee decided to withdraw the appeal or what the group’s next steps will be. However, since it has been more than 30 days since he sent the letter outlining permitted uses on the Polebridge property, they cannot file a new appeal.

Mussman added that the North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee has formed a sub-committee that will “be looking carefully at text amendments,” suggesting that requests for text amendments to North Fork zoning regulations may eventually surface.

The date, time and agenda for the Board of Adjustment’s November meeting has not yet been posted.

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