The Whitefish Community Development Board (CDB) is updating the city’s outdated Growth Policy, a process mandated by the 2023 Montana Land Use Planning Act. At its May 21, 2025 meeting, the board adopted an Economic Development chapter written by a narrow special interest downtown business group. This version callously removed the voices of many attendees from the city’s early 2024 visioning sessions, replacing facts with opinion and conjecture. This action led to significant public backlash during a June 2 city council work session. As a result of this flawed process, the CDB will revisit the chapter on August 20, and conduct a line-by-line review of the previously adopted edits.
These edits, however, pose a significant threat to Whitefish’s local community. While tourism is an important part of our local economy, the chapter edits make every effort to prevent any diversification of Whitefish’s economy, directly harming those of us who live here and paradoxically harming local businesses as well. With broad deletions and the addition of paragraphs of pro-tourism industry text, these edits seek to maintain the status quo of a city characterized by low-wage and unpredictable hospitality jobs. This environment forces workers to commute from nearby towns with more affordable housing options and requires locals to drive 15 minutes or more for nearly any day-to-day necessity.
The motivation behind these changes is most evident in the deliberate deletion of key facts from the original city staff chapter draft. For example, the edited chapter removed:
“According to a report from GSBS consulting, 76% of workers employed in Whitefish do not live in Whitefish.” (page 6)
And:
“…leading to a deficit of locally available essential goods and services that residents rely on.” (page 3)
These deletions highlight an effort to prioritize the tourism industry’s interests at the expense of a sustainable, diversified economy and a thriving local community. Additional deletions within the chapter also reveal a bias against supporting locally serving goods and services. The edited chapter removed an objective for supporting lower-cost opportunities for locals, such as food trucks or pop-up shops, as well as an objective to consider zoning amendments for small-scale neighborhood commercial spaces like bakeries or cafes, where appropriate.
The Whitefish Community Development Board’s August 20 meeting is our last chance to correct this flawed Economic Development chapter. Do not let special interests dictate the future of our community. Attend the meeting at City Hall to demand a Growth Policy that champions a diverse and sustainable economy, supports local workers, and builds a better, more affordable Whitefish for everyone.
Nathan Dugan is the president of Shelter WF.