State and county officials recently found merit in a complaint that was lodged against the longstanding Lake Five Resort last spring alleging, among other issues, that the facility’s owners did not secure the permits necessary to build and later improve the resort’s dock system and swimming platforms.

The complaint, submitted to Flathead County Planning and Zoning last May, alleged the county had no permit on file for the resort’s multiple docks, swim platforms and swim buoys marking off its swim area. The complainant, Alaska resident and Lake Five property owner Susie Dietz — who operates the Whistlestop Retreat resort on the lake — also highlighted concerns related to capacity, including whether the property’s 1973 septic system could support the resort’s cabins and RV, tent and car camping sites — the total number of which have grown over the years.

On Jan. 15 the Planning and Zoning Office sent a Lake and Lakeshore Regulations violation notice to the owners of the resort, which is located at 540 Belton Stage Road in West Glacier and is located within the Canyon Area Land Use Regulatory System.

“After conducting a search through Flathead County records and archives no lakeshore permits were located authorizing the observed lakeshore activities,” the notice states.

Flathead County Lake and Lakeshore Protection Regulations require a permit for dock installation and for the repair and replacement of a non-conforming dock. Regulations also restrict properties to one dock per waterfront property ownership, but aerial photos of the resort, which can be found on the facility’s Facebook page, show the property has a large dock, a smaller dock and at least two swim platforms.

“We scoured our records and could not find anything permitting the docks,” said county Planning Director Mark Mussman, who added that his office believes the docks were constructed, or at least upgraded, in the early 2000s.

Mussman also said it’s possible docks existed on the property prior to 1982 when the Flathead County commissioners formally adopted the Lake and Lakeshore Protection Regulations. He said if a dock was created prior to the rule, there is a good chance it is not part of county records. That, at least in-part, may explain the lack of documentation on the resort.

THE NOTICE from the county was soon followed by a second letter from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), notifying property owner Ron Ridenour that he had violated the Sanitation Act by creating a subdivision without a proper Certificate of Subdivision Approval.

The agency found there were septic permits on file prior to July 1, 1973, to serve a comfort station, six RV spaces and another small drain field that did not have a use designated on the permit. But by adding multiple permanent spaces for recreation camping vehicles throughout the years, the property now qualifies as a subdivision.

According to what records are available, DEQ believes Sanitation Act review “would have been triggered” either when the seventh RV space was added between 1973 and 1983, or in 2011, when RV spaces reportedly increased from 14 to 65.

To come into compliance, Ridenour is expected to either remove the RV unit spaces or obtain a subdivision permit. Documentation of removal or an application for the permit must be submitted by March 30.

In an interview last week, Ridenour said he did not wish to comment directly on the content within the complaint or the notices, but said after reviewing them that he believes “the situation can be resolved quickly,” and that “some of the paperwork from earlier years is off.”

Ridenour, whose family has owned the property for more than a century, added that he strives to make sure his septic system is “pristinely kept,” and has improved aspects of the property when county personnel ask him to. However, he did say that in earlier years, some of the maintenance and upgrades at the property was performed by himself and his family.

“If you can fix your car, you fix your car. If you can fix your property, you fix your property. So if I go ahead and make those adjustments and the county eventually comes back out after the fact and says everything looks good, what am I supposed to do?” Ridenour said. “We kind of rely on them as a means of keeping up with the standards.”

MUSSMAN SAID he is unsure how both the planning office and DEQ have not taken note of any permitting problems at the Lake Five Resort prior to this. However, he said overall, the county’s role in ensuring property owners stay within compliance is fairly minimal.

Roughly 10 years ago, the county brought on a dedicated code enforcement officer. But when they did so, the parties determined that “enforcement” beyond making sure something is built to code would be complaint-driven. Therefore, it’s possible that any issues involving Lake Five Resort would not have come to light if Dietz hadn’t submitted a complaint.

Mussman acknowledged the system, which does not accept anonymous complaints, not only allows many property-use issues to slip through the cracks, but also invites increased tension among the complainant and those on the receiving end of the grievance.

“We find ourselves in the middle of neighborhood disputes a lot,” said Mussman, who added his office is currently sifting through at least 70 alleged code violations. That number would be much higher, though, if complainants weren’t required to provide their names, which would also ultimately lead to more land-use issues being addressed.

Mussman also explained that if the county decided to start accepting anonymous grievances, the inevitably larger wave of complaints may spur the county to reevaluate the system, or at least bring on an additional code enforcement officer — something that would need commissioner approval.

The county still only has one code compliance officer for the entire county.

DIETZ TOLD the Daily Inter Lake last week that a large motivating factor for her submitting the complaint against Lake Five Resort, was to bring some of these county-level issues to light. She believes the complaint-driven system leads to some property owners being held to higher standards than others, a situation she said she has experienced herself.

In 2019, some of her neighbors wrote to the county stating she had erected a fire tower and caboose on her property, The Whistlestop Retreat, prior to receiving a major land-use permit.

Dietz applied for, and eventually received the permit. The issuance recently prompted a citizens group, Friends of Lake Five Inc., to sue the commissioners on their decision to grant it, arguing among other points that the resort will harm the water quality of the lake. The case is still ongoing.

“I made a simple innocent mistake on my property that has since been rectified as soon as I learned of it. My mistake is quite understandable, especially looking around Lake Five and seeing the multitude of what I now realize are all flagrant violations that have been the way of life at Lake Five for decades,” Dietz said.

She has alleged at public meetings that some of her neighbors, in addition to the Lake Five Resort, might also be in violation of various zoning and/or septic standards. Dietz hopes the complaint will level out the playing field.

“I believe that Planning and Zoning has been put in an awkward position as the system seems to be complaint-based only and this is fraught with problems in itself,” she said. “I believe that all should be treated equally and all should have to follow the same rules, not just one property owner singled out by a vocal few disgruntled folks and then when they lose at the commissioner level they sue the county commissioners while they themselves have flagrant violations on their own properties.”

Although Mussman could not confirm whether the county is investigating other properties around the lake, he said many septic systems on Lake Five are “most likely in need of upgrades.” Such is the case on other lakes throughout the valley, where outdated, leaky septic systems have been a source of concern for decades.

“When you look at Lake Five, Flathead, Whitefish, Echo, Ashley, Little Bitterroot and others there’s quite a bit of newer construction, but there are still some older cabins that were constructed with regulations that were not nearly as cumbersome and strict as they are now,” Mussman said. “That’s an issue on the water quality and it will be an issue until all of the systems are brought up to code.”

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