Disputed county boat ramp on Church Slough shut down temporarily

A county boat launch on Church Slough that is the focus of a lawsuit has been temporarily closed by a recent order from Flathead County District Judge Katherine Curtis.

Deputy County Attorney Peter Steele said the May 30 order found in favor of developer Dennis Carver on one of seven issues he has raised in his lawsuit aimed at closing the boat launch.

Steele said Curtis ruled that “the county didn’t have adequate information to issue a flood-plain permit.”

Steele emphasized that the closure is temporary, pending the outcome of a trial scheduled to start Monday before Curtis.

“The judge just ruled on one issue and didn’t fashion a remedy for that issue until the trial is over,” Steele said.

The 14-page ruling finds that the county’s application for a flood-plain permit was “woefully inadequate” in not providing more detailed information about fill, riprap, vegetation removal and equipment that would be involved with the boat ramp project.

The county argued that its flood-plain administrator had an adequate understanding of the nature of the project before approving the permit, regardless of details lacking in the application.

Curtis disagreed.

The county now contends that it should be allowed to reapply for a flood-plain permit once the case is decided in court.

Carver sued the county in 2010, seeking to close the public access on land that he donated to the county as a condition for approving his River Vista Estates subdivision along the slough.

Carver contends the land was donated for a primitive access for the public to carry small watercrafts to the water. But the county and a local group, Flathead Wildlife Inc., say the land was turned over to the county with no deed restrictions for the purpose of creating a standard boat launch.

Carver maintains in his lawsuit that he has incurred a “substantial loss of revenue and other financial harm” because of the boat launch, which was constructed in 2010 with eight parking spaces, picnic tables and a turnaround area.

But Flathead Wildlife representatives counter that Carver benefited substantially from the abandonment of Wagner Lane. That allowed him to create waterfront lots on the slough.

The jury trial to decide Carver’s lawsuit is scheduled to last five days.