City officials want to gather public input on a request to amend county zoning and allow future commercial development on 490 acres of land at the southern entrance of Whitefish.
Dave DeGrandpre of Land Solutions LLC is scheduled to present a draft plan before the Flathead County Planning Board in January. The plan seeks to change the zoning for a section of land along U.S. Highway 93 stretching one-and-a-half miles south of Highway 40. The land, which is within the jurisdiction of Flathead County, is currently zoned agricultural. Developers of the plan say the area is suited for a wider array of commercial uses and the zoning changes would make it congruent with the southern commercial section of Whitefish.
However, in a memo to the city’s planning board, Dave Taylor, Whitefish’s planning director, said the city and its residents “who are highly impacted by this plan have not had a seat at the table to help steer the development of this plan, but only an opportunity to comment on the plan to the developers and the county.”
Taylor says the county should delay its review of the proposal until “more public outreach has been done by the applicants and Whitefish’s concerns can be addressed.”
The city of Whitefish will hold a public hearing on the subject at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 5 at 1005 Baker Avenue. Letters or email comments can also be submitted to Whitefish City Clerk at P.O. Box 158, Whitefish, MT 59937.
A business service district zoning is proposed for a major stretch of the corridor. That zoning does not allow commercial retail or restaurants, but does allow offices, light manufacturing and similar uses, Taylor’s memo states.
Although parts of the proposed plan would fit Whitefish’s design and infrastructure standards, the overall proposal could conflict with the city’s vision, which has previously opposed significant development in the southern entrance.
Taylor, in his memo, pointed out sections of the city’s Growth Policy, which mentions a list of standards a plan must address, including landscaping and screening as well as requirements for replacing existing forest stands.
“While the issues facing the Highway 93 South corridor are complex and will be difficult to solve, the Whitefish community has a long history of discouraging this area from becoming a ‘commercial strip,’” the city’s Growth Policy states.
In 2004, the city adopted the North Valley Hospital Neighborhood Plan. At that time, the neighborhood plan included a goal that said it did not promote or encourage commercial development south of the Highway 40 intersection.
Looking at the current proposal, the Growth Policy raises concerns about “box store” development, reduced forest stands, traffic safety and the need for water and sewer services that improve water quality, among other issues.
Taylor said the Whitefish community has not been properly involved or informed of the possible changes.
Correction (Nov. 30): The article previously incorrectly attributed statements made in the Whitefish Growth Policy to Planning Director Dave Taylor. Taylor, in his memo, was simply referencing the Growth Policy rather than raising his own concerns about the plan and any standards it would need to meet.