County reverses ZBOA decision, denying Madison Food Park permit extensions
Cascade County Commissioners voted unanimously during a Feb. 27 special meeting to reverse the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s December decision to extend special use permits for Madison Food Park projects.
The decision effectively denies the permit extensions, rendering them expired and Madison Food Park would have to start the permit process over.
The ZBOA voted unanimously to extend Madison Food Park’s special use permits for the cheese, distillery and vitamin facilities during their Dec. 18 meeting for another 36-months, overriding the county planning director’s earlier denial.
In January, Stacy Hermiller filed an appeal of the ZBOA decision to the county commission, writing that the extension appeared “to violate multiple provisions of the Cascade County zoning regulations…and therefore warrant formal review and corrective action by the Cascade County Commission.”
Cascade County Commission to consider appeal of Madison Food Park permit extensions
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, which was reported by The Electric on Dec. 17.
In their agenda report for the Feb. 27 commission meeting, county planning staff wrote that “the ZBOA did not have the information regarding the delinquent taxes when it made its decision to extend” the permits. “After Dec. 18, 2025, the department was made aware of the delinquent taxes,” and that the commission may consider new information, including the delinquent taxes.
County zoning board approves permit extensions for three Madison Food Park components [2025]
County staff included a background of the permits, which was drafted on Feb. 10, but not included in the online agenda packet as of Feb. 24, and stated that Madison Food Park was still delinquent on all county taxes.
Madison Food Park paid the first half of taxes on all its properties in the county on Feb. 13.
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.
It’s the same section Michael Harris, county planning director, cited in his Oct. 20 email to Ed Friesen, Madison Food Park’s managing member, denying the extension for the three permit extensions.
County to consider permit extension appeal from Madison Food Park [2025]
“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.”
Friesen 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.
Proposed Madison Food Park land for sale; lawsuits ongoing [2025]
“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.
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 assumed Harris meant construction needed to begin prior to that 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.”
County grants 2-year extension for Madison Food Park projects [2023]
Madison Food Park subsequently filed a formal appeal of Harris’ decision.
The ZBOA did not meet in November 2025.
During the Feb. 27 special commission meeting to consider the appeal, Hermiller said it was “inconceivable” that an applicant could be delinquent on county taxes and still be issued a special use permit.
She said the permits had become de facto zoning changes for the properties and that the extensions weren’t reasonable.
“No applicant for an SUP should be allowed 9 yeas to start construction,” Hermiller said.
Lawsuit filed against Madison Food Park over unpaid loans [2023]
Kevin May, of Big Sky Civil and Environmental, the local engineering firm working with Madison Food Park on the project, said that the large project takes time for permitting and it wasn’t unforeseen that it would take a few years.
He said the county regulations don’t specify a limit to permit extensions that may be granted by the ZBOA.
May said the development team was working to get through permitting and as the county works to grow, there will be more large projects that take time to get through the permitting process.
Commissioner Joe Briggs said that he’s usually accused of bending too far for development, but in this case, Hermiller’s comments about nine years being too long were spot on and that if the company can’t pay taxes on time, it’s not likely they’ll get a project done.
“Everything about this project has been delinquent or misinformation from day one,” Briggs said.
Commissioner Jim Larson said that there had been no progress on the property and “I think nine years is plenty of time to get started.”
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 earlier this week 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.
County responds to city request for study of Madison Food Park proposal [2020]
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.
