DEQ Hears from Public on Flathead Lake Club Sanitary Facilities
The luxury development comes from the multi-national Discovery Land Company. The public comment period on the facilities’ environmental assessment closes June 15.
By Zoë Buhrmaster
In a virtual public hearing Thursday on the proposed sanitary and water facilities for phase one of a luxury resort in Lakeside, a few local community members and representatives of environmental watchdog groups aired their concerns about the high-profile development near Flathead Lake, which has been dubbed Territory 1889. The proposal comes from the multi-national Discovery Land Company, which currently operates luxury clubs in Whitefish, Big Sky, and Shields Valley.
“You’re talking about the cleanest lake maybe in the country, but it’s not going to be that way forever,” community member Deirdre Coit said. “I’m just asking you guys to take a better, deeper look and get some more in-depth information.”
The hearing was a chance for the public to comment on an Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared by Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officials that reviews the sanitary facilities for the resort’s first phase. The EA assesses public water supply, wastewater and stormwater plans for 80 residential lots, roads and the utility corridor of the planned 359-unit subdivision.
The Lakeside County Water and Sewer District (LCWSD) will take on the wastewater from the 80 residential lots at the district’s existing facilities, according to a summary of existing capacity added to the DEQ’s list of materials on the proposal.
DEQ officials found no significant environmental impact, noting that additional capacity for the rest of Territory 1889 will trigger a separate DEQ review.
Representatives from North Shore Water Alliance, Citizens for a Better Flathead, and the Flathead Lakers said they were concerned about water rights and environmental impacts, pointing to concerns around the developer’s impact in other Montana properties.
Last year, the state sued Crazy Mountain Ranch in Shields Valley over illegal irrigation to its private golf course. This week, a district court judge gave the ranch temporary authorization to operate a headgate that provides water to the course while the development works with water commissioners to come to an agreement over water management. Several questioned the ranch’s unique request to operate its own headgates while much of the state suffers from varying levels of drought.
The Yellowstone Club in Big Sky has been accused of polluting the Gallatin River with its wastewater, though recent litigation has failed to substantiate any claims.
“We all know that growth and change is going to be a part of our lives here in this beautiful place,” Coby Gierke, executive director of the Flathead Lakers, said. “But when we see the same development company coming in, doing the same things in different places and just paying the tax for doing it wrong, we need to hold them accountable as the law allows us to do so.”
Mayre Flowers with Citizens for a Better Flathead requested DEQ review the multi-phase development in its entirety with an Environmental Impact Statement, a more rigorous review DEQ prepares when the impacts of a project are deemed to have a significant impact. In the EA, DEQ officials note that future phases will receive separate DEQ review.
“Subsequent phases of the Flathead Lake Club development would increase demand on the water supply and on LCWSD’s treatment capacity and would require separate DEQ review at that time,” officials state, referring to the project by its application name. “DEQ’s approval of the Phase 1 Certificate of Subdivision Approval does not authorize sanitary facilities for future phases and does not commit DEQ to any particular outcome for future applications.”
Flathead County Commissioners approved a preliminary plat for the subdivision last August. Citizens for a Better Flathead is currently in litigation with the commissioners on their approval of a variance for Territory 1889’s extended dock and commercial marina. A district court judge temporarily halted construction of the dock citing the need to undergo environmental review per the Montana Lakeshore Protection Act, while ruling that development on the marina can continue.
At Thursday’s hearing, the resort’s sanitary and water facilities received a lone comment in favor of the proposal. Andrew Barinowski, a project manager for Malmquist Construction, compared the project to the developer’s private Iron Horse Golf Club in Whitefish.
“We’ve done some work up there, it’s helped a lot of our subcontractors just form a solid income,” he said. “There was a great deal of resistance to it, but I think even knowing the huge tax base that it’s brought us, I see those as benefits.”
DEQ is accepting written public comment on the EA for phase one’s sanitary facilities until June 15. Information on the project and where to submit public comments can be found on the DEQ’s website here.