Cascade County Commission to consider appeal of Madison Food Park permit extensions
Cascade County Commissioners will consider an appeal during a special Feb. 27 meeting of the county zoning board’s December decision to extend Madison Food Park’s special use permits for the cheese, distillery and vitamin facilities.
Stacy Hermiller, a county resident, filed the appeal dated Jan. 14 and shared it with The Electric as the document has not been included in the meeting’s online agenda packet as of Feb. 24.
Hermiller wrote in her appeal that the ZBOA’s decision to extend three special use permits to Madison Food Park “appear to violate multiple provisions of the Cascade County zoning regulations…and therefore warrant formal review and corrective action by the Cascade County Commission.
County zoning board approves permit extensions for three Madison Food Park components [2025]
The ZBOA voted unanimously to extend Madison Food Park’s special use permits during their Dec. 18 meeting for another 36-months, overriding the county planning director’s earlier denial.
Last fall, Michael Harris, county planning director denied an extension request for three special use permits issued to Madison Food Park.
An attorney for Madison Food Park wrote a letter to Harris a month later in November, asking that he refer the request to the ZBOA for consideration.
The permits for Big Sky Cheese, Silver Falls Distillery and Friesen Nutrition’s vitamin trace minerals blending facility were all extended twice previously and had expired Dec. 16, before the ZBOA decision.
County to consider permit extension appeal from Madison Food Park [2025]
Hermiller wrote in her appeal that the extension violates the section of county zoning regulations that state no special use permit shall be issued where there is an existing violation of county zoning regulations, or any other county, state or federal regulations or laws, or for delinquency of county taxes.
At the time the ZBOA voted to extend SUPs for Madison Food Park, the company was delinquent on all county property taxes for all its properties in Cascade County, according to the publicly available county tax records.
Madison Food Park paid the first half of taxes on all its properties in the county on Feb. 13.
Hermiller wrote in her appeal that despite the county tax delinquency, the ZBOA extended the permits, which “appears to directly contradict” the zoning regulations.
In her appeal, Hermiller also cited a section of the county zoning regulations that state the ZBOA approval for a special use permit is valid for only one particular use, the approval expires one year after the date of approval is construction or use has not commenced, the zoning administrator may grant a one-time six month extension and that a special use permit expires if the use ceases for six months for any reason.
Proposed Madison Food Park land for sale; lawsuits ongoing [2025]
Hermiller wrote that, “if construction or use had in fact commenced for each of the three SUPs, it would be incumbent upon Edward Friesen to provide clear evidence demonstrating compliance for each permit individually. Absent such evidence, the permits should be considered expired by operation of the zoning regulations.”
In her appeal, Hermiller wrote that given the conflicts between the ZBOA approval and the county zoning regulations that commissioners review the extensions and determine whether they were issued in violation and “take appropriate corrective action to ensure lawful, consistent, and transparent enforcement of county zoning regulations.”
“Uniform application of zoning regulations is essential to maintaining fairness among property owners, protecting public trust, and preserving the integrity of Cascade County governance,” Hermiller wrote. “When zoning rules are disregarded or selectively applied, it undermines confidence in the regulatory process and disadvantages those who comply with the law.”
County grants 2-year extension for Madison Food Park projects [2023]
The Madison Food Park property was listed for sale for $8.9 million.
As of Feb. 24, the listing shows that the property is under contract and a price is not listed.
Brett Doney of the Great Falls Development Alliance told The Electric that their understanding from Friesen was that the land was under agreement with an investment group.
The land is also part of a foreclosure action in district court brought by the Great Falls Development Alliance since Madison Food Park defaulted on their loans.
Lawsuit filed against Madison Food Park over unpaid loans [2023]
In February 2023, GFDA filed a civil lawsuit in district court over more than $2 million in unpaid loans and placed liens on the Madison Food Park properties east of Great Falls.
During a Sept. 5 court hearing before Judge John Kutzman, it was stated that the amount owed to GFDA was $3.1 million, including attorney’s fees.
As of Feb. 24, Doney, GFDA president, said they had not yet been paid and were waiting on a court decision.
No filings have been made in the case since September, according to the state’s publicly available court records system.
Doney said in December that there had been three offers on the land that he was aware of, including one from Hill Top Colony, that had since expired, and two more from a developer that Friesen had been working with.
Hill Top Colony has been farming the land for some time, Doney said, and had been interested in purchasing the property that they’d been making lease payments on.
As part of the court case, Hill Top is now paying an annual $100,000 lease rate in monthly installments of $8,333.33 until a sheriff’s sale of the land is completed. According to an order from Kutzman, the monthly rent is being sent to GFDA and applied as payment toward the amount due by Madison Food Park on their overdue loan payments. That agreement went into effect Sept. 15.
Doney said that GFDA remains in first position to collect liens from the property sale and that the agency has enough available funding to continue providing other business loans in the meantime.
Ed Friesen, managing member of Madison Food Park, wrote to county planning staff on Oct. 16 requesting that their request for a third extension, for 36 months, be placed on the next ZBOA agenda.
County responds to city request for study of Madison Food Park proposal [2020]
“As you are likely aware, the time has passed by quickly again prior to us being able to meet all the conditions of the above SUP’s and they will expire soon. We continue to work with the regulatory agencies, contractors and financiers to begin construction as soon as every component is approved to meet the conditions,” Friesen wrote.
Harris responded in an Oct. 20 email to Friesen that the permits were initially issued in 2019 and the last extension granted by the ZBOA in 2023 was through late 2025.
“However, pursuant to Cascade County Zoning Regulations at 10.4 an SUP is valid for one year if construction or the use has not started. The zoning administrator is authorized to issue a one-time six-month extension. The permit expires if the use ceases for six months for any reason,” Harris wrote. “Without additional information showing construction had begun under the issued permits prior to December 2024 or the use has not ceased for six months for any reason my determination would have to be your permits have expired and you must apply for new special use permits. If you wish to apply for new special use permits we can schedule a pre-application meeting at your earliest convenience.”
In a Nov. 17 letter to Harris, Alan McCormick, attorney for Madison Food Park, wrote that the county zoning regulations include a provision that any further extensions of special use permits must be granted by the ZBOA prior to their expiration.
McCormick wrote that they assume Harris meant construction needed to begin prior to this month, rather than December 2024, as written by Harris.
“This determination is directly contrary to Section 10.4 of the Zoning Regulations and, if not corrected immediately, will result in significant liability for Cascade County. There is no reason for treating this situation differently than Cascade County has previously handled requests from Madison Food Park. Section 10.4 specifically grants Madison Food Park the right to request an extension of the permit approvals from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Your Oct. 20, 2025, determination erroneously eliminates this right,” McCormick wrote. “In order to correct this error, we ask you to immediately place the extension requests on the next Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting agenda and provide proper notice of the agenda item. If for some reason this is not possible prior to the expiration of the permits, please note that our client intends to hold Cascade County responsible for the damages which result from the loss of the permits.”
Madison Food Park subsequently filed a formal appeal of Harris’ decision.
The ZBOA did not meet in November 2025.
