BLUAC OKs permit for wine tastings

The Coffee Cellar coffee and wine shop in the Branding Iron Station building is one step closer to being able to serve what they sell after the Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee gave a thumbs up for a conditional use permit for the business.

The committee voted 5-1, with Darrell Coverdell dissenting, to grant a conditional use permit to operate a tavern on site, with the addition of conditions restricting hours of operation and amplified music.

Business owner Hugh Yates said that though the permit could allow a tavern to operate (once a liquor license is granted by the state), he was seeking the permit to allow for wine tasting events, service of wine by the glass and the ability to cater off-site with a full bar.

"We're going at it from the art side of food and wine," Yates told the board.

The conditions that BLUAC added would restrict the hours of operation to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. from June 15 to September 15 and from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays during the rest of the year, extending to 11 p.m. on weekends.

The only public comment on the application came from Marilyn Murer, who owns the property across the highway from the business.

"Bigfork already has 17 establishments that serve liquor," Murer said. "I think that's sufficient."

The committee also took steps in an effort to prevent any subsequent tenant of the building from using the permit to open a traditional bar. Were Yates to take his business to another location, he would take the liquor license with him, but the conditional use permit would remain with the property.

BLUAC added a passage to the finding of fact that was adopted to indicate the nature of the business, making clear that a full service tavern was not proposed when the permit was granted.

That measure, according to county planner Andrew Hagemeier, should hold up in case of a challenge in the event a differing use took over the space.

The final decision will be made when the Flathead County Board of Adjustment hears the application at 6 p.m. on July 7.

In other business at last Thursday's meeting, the board elected officers for the next 12 months. No changes came at the top of BLUAC, as Shelley Gonzales will remain the chairwoman, Paul Guerrant the vice-chairman and Sue Hanson the Secretary. Al Johnson was also reappointed to the member-at-large position. He was the only applicant.

Gonzales also discussed a meeting she and Guerrant had with local land-use attorney Roger Sullivan concerning the commissioners June 2 decision to change three lots on the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan's future land use map.

Gonzales reported that Sullivan said there was nothing illegal about the change and that the only way to lodge a protest would be with at least 50 percent of the agricultural landowners in the planning area or the owners of 50 percent of that acreage.

"I feel as a citizen of Bigfork that it would be counterproductive to polarize the community on this issue," Gonzales said. "It's not something I would get involved in."