Page 8 - Flathead Beacon // 7.2.14

8 | JULY 2, 2014 NEWS
Restrictions Proposed for Whitefish Lake Vendors
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Councilors identify congestion on Whitefish Lake as potential problem as vendors stack up
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
The increased presence of float- ing merchants on Whitefish Lake hasn’t caused any major waves of disturbance, but city councilors, anticipating a conges- tion problem, are considering whether to regulate or restrict commercial activity on the popular body of water.
“There were apparently a number of vendors who were just out on the lake last year and that was a concern to a number of folks from a congestion standpoint,” Councilor Frank Sweeney said.
The council convened for a work ses- sion to discuss the budding trend of en- trepreneurs peddling their wares on the water, usually in the form of boaters sell- ing everything from sunscreen and sun- glasses to ice and soda, as well as renting paddleboards and kayaks.
Because Whitefish Lake lies within City Limits, all commercial activity and sales on the lake require a city business license, which the council has considered amending so as to restrict business trans- actions on the lake. Similarly, the city could restrict its vendor permitting process to exclude sales transactions on the lake.
The concern, according to councilors, is that if commercial activity continues unregulated on the lake, it will become a free-for-all marketplace, with dozens of boats bobbing around City Beach and oth- er popular destinations on the lake solicit- ing their products and causing congestion.
Still, city officials agree that it’s not time to pull the trigger on added restric- tions just yet.
“We concluded that we are going to have to see what happens this summer. Last summer was kind of a summer of first impressions,” Sweeney said. “It’s a little bit of a, ‘we think we have a problem here but we’re not real sure,’ so we’ll take it up again in the fall.”
A vendor on Whitefish Lake. COURTESY PHOTO
Councilors said it’s not the city’s intent to quash the spirit of free enterprise, but merely to get a handle on a situation that, if left unabated, could get out of control.
Ed Docter, owner of Tamarack Lake Shop in Whitefish, rents all manner of rec- reational water gear, both from his shop on Wisconsin Avenue and from his 28-foot pontoon boat, which is outfitted with pad- dleboards, kayaks, tubes, wakeboards, wa- ter skis, swim wear, life vests and even ma- rina items such as bumpers and ladders.
“It’s pretty unlimited,” Docter said of his aquatic inventory.
But Docter didn’t notice any problems on the lake last summer and doesn’t antici- pate any this summer.
He operates his business with a general business license, required by the city to do any business within the city. He acknowl- edged that restricting those licenses in a way that would require all retail business- es and sales transactions to be conducted from the licensee’s land-based business lo- cation, not on Whitefish Lake, is the most likely amendment that city officials would entertain.
But Docter hopes such a restriction is
not imposed, adding that he and other ven- dors have conducted their businesses re- sponsibly.
“There is some concern about having too many businesses out there. They don’t want to have 20 or 30 boats circling the beach,” Docter said. “But right now there’s just a few of us, and I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”
Councilors also identified loopholes in a potential restriction to the city business license, particularly as technology allows vendors to accept money from custom- ers over the Internet, simply by logging on with a smart phone – and thereby bypass- ing a statute designed to regulate tradi- tional, hand-to-hand business exchanges.
Still, city officials will be paying atten- tion this summer to inform a decision later in the fall.
“My takeaway is that if it doesn’t get
out of hand, we’re fine,” Sweeney said. “If
it does get out of hand and we have 20 or 30 1 boats hanging out and circling around City
Beach or outside the Lodge (on Whitefish
Lake) trying to vend, I don’t think that’s
what we really want on our lake.”
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