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ISLAND PARK, Idaho — 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.
About 150 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.
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."
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.
–Cindy Williams, Island Park property owner
Opponents of the proposals plan to hire a land-use attorney and request a moratorium on development.
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.
This is private property, and although many have taken personal ownership of the area as open space, it remains private property.
–Kirk Barker, Ensign Hospitality
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.
