Developer Proposes 97-slip Bigfork Bay Marina in ‘Jurisdictionally Complex’ Project
The Flathead Conservation District last month tabled the application until additional required information is submitted as part of a large-scale project located where the Swan River and Flathead Lake meet
By Maggie Dresser
A Polson-based developer is proposing to build a 97-slip marina with floating docks, a public swimming area and a boardwalk located in Bigfork Bay where the Swan River meets Flathead Lake.
Developer Michael Maddy is seeking a Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act (NSLPA)/310 permit from the Flathead Conservation District (FCD) for the Bigfork Bay Marina, which the board of supervisors has tabled until additional required information is submitted by a July 6 deadline.
According to the application submitted by Cougar Ridge Development, LLC and Water Source, LLC, Maddy plans to build a floating dock facility with boardwalk access to the Flathead County Public Dock, a large scale project proposed in the northeast area of Bigfork Bay on the Swan River.
According to FCD Resource Conservationist Samantha Tappenbeck, Cougar Ridge Development, LLC submitted the application for the proposal on April 6 and an onsite inspection was completed on April 26, as part of standard protocol.
During the onsite inspection, the FCD board of supervisors and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials met with the applicant to review the details, and the findings were presented at a special meeting on May 22 where public comment was heard.
At the meeting, the board of supervisors tabled the application and requested specific geotechnological information and a hydrologic report to determine if the design specifications meet the FCD’s minimum standards. The information must be submitted by July 6, at which point another special meeting will be scheduled with additional opportunity for public comment.
“This is a really large-scale and jurisdictionally complex project,” Tappenbeck said.
Tappenbeck said when considering projects of this scale and scope, the district typically invites agencies with concurrent jurisdiction to join and review the proposed project from the start.
Historically, Bigfork Bay has been at the center of jurisdiction disputes at the location where the Swan River and Flathead Lake meet, raising the question over whether the property owner receives a NSLPA/310 permit from FCD or a Lakeshore Protection Act/Lakeshore Construction Permit from Flathead County.
In 2004, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a district court ruling that the FCD had statutory authority to determine property owners’ rights to construct a waterfront project where another agency had concurrent jurisdiction.
In Paulson v. Flathead Conservation District, the plaintiff received a permit to construct a waterfront project on Flathead Lake from the Flathead Regional Development Office. The property owners were later notified the project was also in the Swan River and subject to FCD’s jurisdiction. After petitioning for a new permit, which was denied by the FCD, the Paulsons sought to determine which agency had jurisdiction over the project.
An arbitration panel determined the project was located on a flowing stream, granting FCD jurisdiction over the project.
Following this ruling, Tappenbeck said the Montana Highway 35 bridge became the marker for the jurisdictional delineation between Flathead Lake and the Swan River, with everything upstream to the east of the bridge requiring a NSLPA/310 permit and everything downstream and west requiring a Lakeshore Construction Permit, Tappenbeck said.
“The characteristic of the Swan River through the Bigfork Bay constituted as a river all the way to Wayfarers State Park,” Tappenbeck said. “Hydrology-wise, that’s where the Swan River meets the lake.”
Because Flathead Lake is regulated by a dam, Tappenbeck said the water backflows into Bigfork Bay, adding complexities to the area’s definition.
“It has a big lake effect – it’s a big body of water and there is a lake influence,” Tappenbeck said. “But the dominant feature is inarguably the Swan River from what I understand in the current, velocity and flow dynamics.”