Kootenai Avenue Right-of-Way situated above Salish Point on Flathead Lake has been left unmanaged and has become a point of discussion and confusion at the Polson City Commission meetings a handful of times.

The right-of-way has had a number of informal uses over the years, most commonly serving as a dusk to dawn parking area and as excess snow storage during the winter for the City of Polson.  

In the summer of 2024, the City of Polson Parks and Recreation stopped mowing the area and cleaning trash according to a local resident, Mark Johnston, whose property meets the edge of the right-of-way. In the commission’s related documents from the July 21, 2024, meeting, Ed Meece, Polson City Manager, stated the city removed the gate and signage in 2023.  

Once these items were removed, Johnston started voicing “serious issues.” He has reported to the city commission trash dumping, suspicious activity, drug activity, public indecency, property damage and a handful of other issues.  

On the agenda for the July 21 meeting was an item to “consider the approval of city manager’s recommendation for disposal of underdeveloped right-of-way of Kootenai Avenue.”  

“This is an issue we've discussed several times at the City Commission meetings, administration is at a place where we need to come back to the City Commission for further direction,” Meece said at the July meeting.  

On August 5, 2024, Meece received a letter from Peter Ridgeway, chairman of the Park and Tree Board, who detailed that “it was the unanimous decision of board” that this property be disposed of. In the board letter, Ridgeway stated the park board found that it “held no value to the current park system and holds more maintenance and public liability than we felt was worthy of holding onto the property for development.” 

Meece explained that he recognized the possibility of  the property being used as a part of the transportation system. He then reached out to HDR Engineering Inc. to complete a feasibility study on the property.  

The estimated cost to extend the road to Salish Kootenai Pend d’Oreille Loop is $1.8 million, and Meece said during the meeting it “seems like a very non-feasible number from an affordability standpoint.”  

Meece said the administration reached out to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to see if they were interested in the property. At the time of the July 21 meeting, the city had not received a formal response from CSKT. According to Rob McDonald, the CSKT communications director, S&K Gaming and the lands department explored the idea of purchasing the property, but nothing was officially decided.  

As Meece explained the city’s option of abandoning the property, Polson Mayor Eric Huffine interjected, saying it’s a high value piece of property at about 46,000 square feet.  

“So that's roughly six city lots, and it's zoned Central Business District. I think it's a high value piece of property, and there's not one part of me that as a businessman can understand abandoning it or giving it away,” Huffine said during the July meeting.  

According to the Lake County Clerks Plat, the dimension of the property is 80 feet by about 425 feet, which is 34,000 square feet. At this point in the meeting Johnston interrupted, clarifying that the Montana Cadastral map the commission was using is not accounting for the changes made to the property.  

In 1965, 25 feet of the original 80-foot right-of-way was abandoned to the adjacent property owners. Meaning that the 34,000 square feet was reduced to 23,725 square feet. Most other zoning districts within Polson have a minimum required lot size, but the Central Business District does not. Regulations on other districts are about 6,000 to 7,000 square footage requirements, but some are as low as 1,500 square feet for campgrounds or recreational vehicles.  

With confusion in the room over not knowing enough about the property’s size, value to the City of Polson, and if CSKT was an interested party, the agenda item was tabled to revisit at a later date.  

At the Oct. 6 Polson City Commission meeting there was an agenda item to discuss the Right-of-Way. The city attorney Dave Michie prepared a memo, which included three options to dispose of the land.  

This included abandonment, which would split the property between adjacent property would; Sale, which would include selling, trading or exchanging the property; Gift, which can be done if the property is a historically significant building or monument. Technically there is no building or monument on the property, but Meece stated in an email to the Leader that the City Commission would determine it a special character of Salish Point, making the area a "monument" they could give to CSKT.   

Ahead of the meeting, Johnston sent the commission a letter with several questions. One question Johnston asked was the commission to consider non-disposal alternatives that would be more economical and more creative.  

In the early 2000s Johnston was a part of the Salish Point Committee, whose goal was to represent the city to discuss options for developing Salish Point with nonvoting representatives from the tribe and city.  

In the letter Johnston detailed re-establishing this committee to create a possible pedestrian/cultural corridor. Johnston explained that he doesn’t care what party takes over the property; he would just like to see it managed in some capacity.  

“Dana and I both hope that any long-term discussion about this area can lead to a creative, collaborative solution that involves all of the stakeholders — the neighborhood, the public, CSKT, and the City,” Johnston stated in an email to the Leader. “Our goal has always been to see this space managed in a way that improves safety, preserves neighborhood character, and benefits the broader community.”  

However, as the meeting kicked off Mayor Huffine proposed striking the item from the agenda due to the letter and based on conversations with the community in order to give proper direction to the city administration. The agenda item was striked from the agenda.  

With a three-minute public comment and the item removed from the agenda, Johnston still made his points and concerns. Ultimately, he would like to have more public involvement in this issue and at the end of his letter he requested the city to restrict public parking access in hopes that it would resolve most of the issues.  

But regardless of Johnston's complaints, Huffine doesn’t feel urgency behind this issue.  

“I myself don't understand the urgency. It's been that way since 1965 and I personally want to take my time to figure out what to do with it, because maybe it could be part of a lot greater vision,” Huffine said. “The property has really good value. And I'm not sure that I personally think that it's in the community's best interest to give it away.”  

Huffine explained that he feels like Johnston is the only person to voice concern about this time frame. However, Johnston’s wife, Dana got 15 neighbor signatures to petition the city to move forward with the property.  

After the city administration and the commission gather more information on this small plot of land, it will revisit the topic to discuss and determine action with it.  

    Lake County Clerk's Plat of Kootenai Avenue and surrounding streets (Photo contributed by Mark Johnston)