Battle over Henry’s Lake Flats: Island Park residents protest proposed airport and hotel
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ISLAND PARK — Two separate proposals for a private air park/airport and a hotel on the Henry’s Lake Flats are stirring deep controversy in the Island Park community.
One hundred fifty residents and landowners in Island Park gathered Monday evening at the Fremont County EMS building on Library Road to protest the developments.
In an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Fremont County Planning and Building Administrator Tom Cluff outlined the two proposals awaiting decisions from the county.
“There’s an application for a hotel, and on the opposite side of (U.S.) Highway 20, there’s an application to change the zoning,” Cluff said. “Those applicants eventually want to put in a private airport and some houses where those owners would be able to fly in and out.”
Imperial Investments, a Montana-based LLC, is applying to change the zoning on its 431-acre parcel from rural to industrial for the airport. This would also require a change in the comprehensive plan map from rural to residential.
“I just can’t imagine what it would be like to float Big Springs with jets flying over.”
The controversy hinges between those seeking to preserve the environment and traditional locale and those advocating for private property rights.
“I just can’t imagine what it would be like to float Big Springs with jets flying over. I mean, that just destroys the whole experience right there,” Cindy Williams, an Island Park property owner, said at the protest. “I think we’re in a really special place being a little gateway community to Yellowstone, and we need to guard this ecosystem and protect it.”
Opponents of the proposals plan to hire a land-use attorney and request a moratorium on development.
“This is private property, and although many have taken personal ownership of the area as open space, it remains private property.”
Kirk Barker is the CEO of Ensign Hospitality, which is applying to build a three-story Marriott-affiliated hotel on the flats. He emphasized that private property rights permit the land owner to develop the property in accordance with current planning and zoning laws.
“This is private property, and although many have taken personal ownership of the area as open space, it remains private property,” he wrote in a statement, invoking the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s protections for individuals’ property rights.
He also emphasized that his project is separate from the air park.
One concern residents have brought up is how the proposed developments would affect wildlife.
“There’s a lot of species that are in need of wild(land) – big game like elk, deer, pronghorn especially, birds like long-billed curlews or sandhill cranes that live on the flats out there,” said Shaun Ward, communications coordinator and project manager for the Henrys Fork Wildlife Alliance. “We’re very concerned with the loss of habitat that what would happen if these developments were approved.”
But cattle have been grazing on the proposed hotel property for four generations, Barker countered, which long-ago disrupted native animal migratory patterns.
“We’ve reached out to the state of Idaho. … They have confirmed that they don’t have any data that would suggest this is a migratory pattern of deer, elk or bison or any wildlife,” Barker said.
To develop or not develop?
Monday’s planned Fremont County Planning & Zoning meeting was postponed until 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, due to the enormous volume of comments the commission received. The hearing will still be held at the Island Park EMS building.
Cluff said 300 pages of written comments were submitted in about two weeks.
“We got so many comments that there wasn’t enough time to read them or prepare any kind of analysis for the public hearing,” he said. “Those people who submitted those comments, they deserve to have those comments considered and paid attention to, so we just needed more time.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission will make a recommendation on the proposals and a final decision will be made by the Fremont County commissioners.
“If the application doesn’t follow our rules, they (P&Z) can deny it. If the application does follow our rules, they are supposed to approve it,” Cluff said. “When you make an application, you are entitled to a review of that application under the rules that are in place at the time when you apply.”
Island Air Park LLC
The two projects are independent and were proposed by separate developers.
The air park would consist of a 5,200-foot runway extending across the property. It would be flanked on either side by private homes and private hangars.
According to a “Fremont County Sketch Plan,” the property was bought by Imperial Investments in 2021 and is presently being transferred to Island Air Park Limited Liability Corporation, owned by Kevin and Doug Button and based in Idaho.
A site drawing indicates the air park would include eight hangars, a club house and 30 private lots ranging from 1.77 acres to 62.28 acres.
The Flat Rock Hotel
The Flat Rock Hotel is a 132-room, three-story hotel affiliated with Marriott Tribute being proposed across the highway on a 90-acre piece of property. It would include 5,000 square feet of meeting/event space. A full-service restaurant, bar and spa would be open to both hotel guests and members of the public. The proposal also includes 10 residences and 25 units of employee housing.
“We see this as a lot of Americans want a piece of Americana, and they like the Old West,” Barker said. “It will be, in our estimation, the nicest resort hotel in the West entrance to Yellowstone, and it’ll just happen to be in Island Park.”
Ensign Hospitality owns the SpringHill Suites hotel at Mack’s Inn.
The company’s current hotel only has 2,000 square-feet of meeting space, which is a limiting factor in growing Island Park’s tourism economy.
“We’re getting a lot of requests for, ‘We’d love to do an event in Island Park, but the size of your space is just insufficient,’” Barker said.
Ensign Hospitality is a private, Utah-based development and property management firm. It is not associated with Ensign Peak Advisers or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as has been reported incorrectly on social media, Barker said.
The company originally applied to the city of Island Park for an annexation and zone change. Thirty acres of the property are in Island Park, and 60 acres are situated in the county.
Island Park rejected those proposals. Three months ago, Ensign Hospitality began working with Fremont County. It has completed an initial sketch plan review.
“The county said, ‘This use is already a permitted use in the current zone designation, so you don’t need a zone change.’ … So we really don’t see how they can shut this,” Barker said.
Cluff confirmed that the parcel’s “Rural Base” zoning does allow for guest lodges.
Barker said the SpringHill Suites has been a valuable asset to the community, and the Flat Rock Hotel would take Island Park’s hospitality to an even higher level.
“Architecture of the resort lodge will reflect the scenic beauty of the area and incorporate a rustic chic design aesthetic. … This next project will be a couple of steps above in terms of the quality and finish of it,” he said.
The protest
But Island Park property owners are not going down without a fight. At Monday’s protest, representatives from Involved Property Owners of Island Park, local political candidates, the Flat Rock Club and Henrys Fork Wildlife Alliance addressed 150 concerned citizens.
A petition at change.org to “Protect the Henry’s Lake flats area in Island Park from commercial and high-density development” had gathered 5,848 signatures by Wednesday.
The petition calls on the Fremont County Planning and Zoning Commission to “undertake a comprehensive review of the Fremont County Zoning Map, Fremont County comprehensive plan and development code. They should focus on the Henry’s Lake Flats and other open spaces in the Island Park Caldera. … Responsibly, looking at the conservation and ecological values of the Henry’s Lake Flat should be an immediate undertaking in Fremont County.”
One environmental organization, the Henry’s Fork Foundation, is primarily concerned about water quality and water supply.
In a March 28 City of Island Park meeting, the foundation’s Science and Technology Director Rob Van Kirk testified, “Water supply in the Henry’s Fork watershed over the past 23 years is 15% lower than it was over the previous 23 years. … We are already seeing fishery declines because of decreased water supply.”
Additionally, “The two wastewater treatment facilities in Island Park — at Last Chance and Mack’s Inn — are already in need of expansion and upgrade and cannot handle additional waste from new commercial development,” he said.
Residents said they hoped their voices would be heard and considered.
“Our pretty little area that everybody used to be able to use is becoming a part of a boys club,” said Justin Barnard, manager of the Flat Rock Club. “This is America, and you can do what you want on your property, and I’m not disputing that, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that, especially if you’re impacting the community with a commercial infrastructure.”
Chris McBride is a property owner in Island Park who supports the hotel but not the air park.
“I think the airport doesn’t benefit our community here in any way,” he said. “I think the hotel wouldn’t be as bad of an impact. I like what the Marriott has done up here.”
Cluff, the planning and building administrator, acknowledged significant opposition within Island Park toward the developments.
“On the flats — it’s a popular part of Island Park,” Cluff said. “There’s a lot of emotional attachment to that area, and people are upset about these proposals. I don’t have any idea of they’ll be approved or not. We kind of have to wait and see how things go at the public hearing and what Planning and Zoning thinks about it.”
