LAKE COUNTY — Silver Rapids Lodge has submitted a revised proposal to expand its White Iron Lake resort, scaling back its earlier plans after legal challenges forced the project to a halt.
The new proposal, submitted to Lake County on June 12, reduces the number of new cabins and moorings compared to the $45 million plan that was derailed by lawsuits and permit withdrawals in late 2024.
The Monday gathering drew a crowd to the lodge, with attendees packed into the space and buzzing with conversation. Three stations displayed poster boards laying out the project’s different phases, with representatives on hand to field questions. The din of overlapping discussions filled the room, a sign of the considerable interest the revised proposal has already generated.
A representative at the open house said the revision was driven by efforts to align with shared state and county density standards.
“So, what happened is over the last year, the DNR and the county, they now have their ordinances match for density,” the representative said. “And now we’re matching that shared ordinance, not a combination of the two.”
Resort owners described the changes as the product of 18 months of listening and reworking.
According to documents distributed at the open house, the revised plans call for 39 new quarter-fractional ownership cabins built across three phases, up to 55 mooring slips, and a new main lodge with tiki bar, restaurant, pool and spa.
The project would also include a centralized check-in facility, gift shop, sauna, and fish cleaning house. Older mobile homes, RVs and existing structures would be removed or replaced, and the plans cite shoreline restoration, natural vegetation buffering, and cleanup of contaminated soils on the property.
The original proposal had cleared both Lake County’s planning commission and county board, but faced a petition campaign and two lawsuits, one from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and one from Community Advocates for Responsible Development, a group that says more than 400 people signed a petition opposing the project. CARD alleged the county failed to determine whether the project’s density complied with existing ordinances. Silver Rapids ultimately withdrew its permits, though the developers retained the right to file future applications.
In announcing the new proposal, resort owners also pushed back against what they characterized as a vocal but unrepresentative opposition.
“We have also seen and heard far more local support for this project than a ‘chosen few’ would like you to know,” the resort posted.