Jury sides with county over contested boat ramp

A jury has sided with Flathead County on all claims made against it in a lawsuit over a public boat launch on Church Slough.

The case was turned over to the jury for its deliberations at 2 p.m. Monday, following closing arguments by attorneys.

The jury came back in less than two hours with its decisions against Dennis Carver, who had sued the county in an attempt to restrict the boat launch and recover damages he claimed the boat launch cost him.

“It’s a win for the public,” said Marcel Quinn, one of the attorneys who represented the county in the six-day trial.

A key piece of evidence cited by both sides Monday was a Jan. 28, 2007, letter from Carver to county commissioners stating that a boat ramp would not be built on land donated by Carver to provide public access.

Carver’s attorneys maintained the letter is evidence that he didn’t want a boat ramp, but the county’s attorneys argued that the letter didn’t constitute an agreement, and what Carver wanted at that point isn’t what mattered in the weeks that followed.

The uncertainty of what access would eventually be deemed acceptable is what prompted former Commissioner Gary Hall to make a motion on Feb. 16, 2007, to abandon Wagner Lane and accept Carver’s land to provide public access to the slough under an unrestricted deed.

“They passed it with the understanding that there wouldn’t be restrictions,” Quinn told the jury.

She noted that Carver didn’t object to the unrestricted deed at that meeting, where the commissioners voted 2-1 to abandon Wagner Lane. That allowed Carver to convert his property into waterfront lots with substantially increased value.

Quinn suggested that Carver didn’t object to the unrestricted deed because if he did, “the road wouldn’t have been abandoned. Mr. Carver wouldn’t have gotten waterfront property. Perhaps that explains his silence.”

Angie LeDuc, an attorney representing Carver, contended that Carver thought he was dealing in good faith with the county, and that the county was dealing in good faith, with an understanding that a “full-scale” boat ramp would not be built.

Quinn attempted to demonstrate how the potential for a boat ramp developed further in the weeks between the road abandonment and Carver getting county approval for his River Vista Estates subdivision.

She cited a March 10 article in the Daily Inter Lake as evidence showing that while Carver still didn’t like the idea of a boat ramp, he had negotiated terms with Flathead Wildlife Inc., a local rod and gun club that was threatening to sue the county because it didn’t consider a smaller, walk-in access to be acceptable under state law.

Carver and Flathead Wildlife came to an agreement that the decision on what type of access would be provided would be left up to the county parks board after going through a public process.

“I certainly can’t dictate to the county what they are going to do,” Carver was quoted as saying in the article. He added that “there are no deed restrictions. The use of that will be up to the public.”

LeDuc attempted to show that the boat launch that was built in 2010 far exceeded being “substantially the same” access that previously existed off Wagner Lane, as required by state law. The old access was primitive and earthen, with a tricky approach to the water.

Because of limited parking, it could only accommodate several vehicles with trailers, according to the testimony of several witnesses.

The new launch ended up accommodating more than a dozen vehicles on some days, witnesses said.

But Quinn countered that the dimensions of the new access were very close to those of the old launch.

“It’s not out of line with what was there before,” she said. “I would submit that it is substantially the same, but it doesn’t matter.”

It doesn’t matter, she said, because Carver was in no position to dictate what type of facility would be built there; that was left up to the county.

Carver’s attorneys said the new launch created a “carnival atmosphere” that disturbed the tranquility of the area and devalued Carver’s property values.

“I would submit that it wasn’t quiet before” the launch was built, said Quinn, who demonstrated during the trial that the slough had long been fully accessible to all kinds of watercraft from the Flathead River and from the primitive access off Wagner Lane.

She recalled that two witnesses testified that they were able to launch 20-foot boats from the old Wagner Lane ramp, and she showed a photograph of a large boat tied up at the dock in front of Carver’s house.

Quinn told the jury that Carver was seeking up to $600,000 in compensatory damages, and she reminded them that he profited handsomely from the abandonment of Wagner Lane.

But Carver’s attorneys reminded jurors that they were free to choose a lesser amount, in the range of $300,000, if they wanted.

There were 12-0 votes against two of Carver’s main claims, and an 11-1 vote on a third claim. The litigation is not complete, however, because Flathead County District Judge Katherine Curtis still has to rule on some matters.

Earlier this month, she ordered the boat launch to temporarily close after finding that the county had not provided adequate information in getting a flood-plain permit for the launch.

“She still has to decide some things,” Quinn said, referring to Curtis.

Quinn said the county is asking the court for permission to go through the flood-plain permitting process again.