Heart of Whitefish Advocates for Removal of Neighborhood Retail in Growth Policy Chapters

A Portland-based firm representing a local nonprofit, Heart of Whitefish, sent a letter this week to the Whitefish planning commission outlining concerns and proposed changes to the city’s draft of its growth policy, most notably advocating for the elimination of retail in neighborhoods.

Chris Schustrom from Heart of Whitefish — a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the economic health and vitality of downtown Whitefish and its small businesses — presented the letter to commissioners at their Thursday night meeting, echoing the sentiment that the city’s downtown core must be prioritized in the document guiding Whitefish’s growth over the next 20 years. 

“The need for more neighborhood housing is well supported by state-mandated [Montana Land Use Planning Act] policies and housing needs assessment data; however, no growth policy rationale nor data has been provided to justify the need for retail use in residential place types,” Schustrom said.

“Permitting additional neighborhood retail businesses will exacerbate the downtown vacancy condition, weakening the downtown business district as a destination for local and visitor shopping, and in turn, reducing resort tax revenues,” he added.

The firm providing the analysis of the city’s first update to its growth policy since 2007 is no stranger to the residents of Whitefish. 

Crandall Arambula has been part of projects in Whitefish for more than two decades, most notably the development of the city’s Downtown Business District Master Plan. Highlights of the plan included a new 25,000-square-foot downtown City Hall and revitalized Central Avenue, which the firm says has stimulated over $40.2 million of new investment.

“Whitefish is a community that we both have a professional pride in our role in the revitalization of the Downtown Business District, and a personal attachment to this special part of America,” the firm’s principals Don Arambula and George Crandall said in the letter to commissioners. “We provide our input with the hope that we can aid the adoption of a bold yet realistic Vision Whitefish 2045 Community Plan.”

In May 2023, the Montana Legislature adopted Senate Bill 382, which created the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA). Under the statute, 10 cities across the state, including Whitefish, Kalispell and Columbia Falls, are required to adopt a new land use plan to replace their existing growth policies and update local zoning and subdivision regulations in accordance with both MLUPA and the land use plan.

For Whitefish, city staff, the planning commission and the city council are in the midst of a busy January as the city pushes forward through a growth policy update process that has been marked with disagreement and already proven contentious.  The updated growth policy must be approved by the city council and the new zoning regulations must take effect by May. 

One of the final chapters of the growth policy to be reviewed by the planning commission before being passed to the city council is the Land Use Element, which is being developed and written by a consulting firm, czb, LLC.

After a series of community surveys and public engagement events in the latter half of 2025, representatives from czb returned to Whitefish this week to present its findings and recommendations to both the community and planning commission ahead of completion of the land use plan, which will be delivered to the commission at the end of the month. 

Before czb’s presentation to the planning commission on Thursday, Schustrom presented Heart of Whitefish’s Crandall Arambula-backed concerns about the land use plan and map, in addition to other chapters in the growth policy draft.

“Not only were two Mixed Neighborhood areas and one Neighborhood Center area proposed by the planners on their boards last night, but in looking more closely at it, there are a total of five mixed neighborhood areas that would allow retail in the Highway 93 corridor south,” Schustrom said. “That’s really troubling and very alarming, so we hope you’ll take a closer look at that map.”

Mixed Neighborhood is defined as a “diverse blend of housing types,” such as single-family, duplexes, townhomes and small multi-family, in addition to neighborhood serving commercial uses such as coffee shops or restaurants, according to czb. The firm defines Neighborhood Centers as “compact, walkable districts that blend a full range of housing types with neighborhood-serving retail, restaurant(s), services and small civic spaces.” 

Among the requested actions in the Crandall Arambula letter is the removal of “all references to retail” in the growth policy’s economic development, land use and Housing elements’ “policy text and graphics.” 

Schustrom’s public comment and presentation of the letter sparked a response from a handful of residents in the form of public comments of their own.

Nathan Dugan and Keegan Siebenaler from Shelter WF, an affordable housing advocacy organization whose members have been heavily involved and vocal throughout the growth policy process, both spoke in opposition of the letter. 

Siebenaler felt Heart of Whitefish’s concern that potential businesses in other neighborhoods would exacerbate the vacancy problem downtown only demonstrates the viability of mixed-use throughout the city, he said.

Dugan said the characterization that community members have advocated for retail in neighborhoods is an incorrect one.

“From my perspective, if you guys want to outright ban retail in neighborhood-commercial, go for it,” Dugan said. “Nobody wants like a Gucci store in their neighborhood, or whatever else. People are thinking about coffee shops, things like that. 

“I don’t know how neighborhood-commercial has turned into retail in neighborhoods, but that’s not the discussion that I saw happen multiple times last year, and I don’t think it’s a discussion that anybody’s having.”

City Councilor Giuseppe Caltabiano, who spoke during public comment as a resident, acknowledged that groups Heart of Whitefish and Shelter WF have a right to share their views, but said the growth policy isn’t an “advocacy document.” He urged the commission to treat the Crandall Arambula letter “strictly as advocacy input,” and consider it as “one perspective out of many.” 

“When a privately retained consultant submits a parallel land use framework, even under the label of public comment, it reads blurring the line between participation and authorship,” Caltabiano said. “Most residents engage by attending meetings, filling out surveys or writing letters, not by hiring professional planning firms. That imbalance matters. Expertise is valuable, but accountability matters more.”

During the czb land use presentation Thursday night, Thomas Eddington, a partner of the firm, addressed the public comment discussion on the incorporation of mixed-use in the land use plan.

“It’s important for us to make sure that we convey the truth that we are not recommending as part of this land use plan that existing neighborhoods incorporate commercial or mixed-use development,” Eddington said. “The mixed-use development component…is really for only two designations. One is Neighborhood Center and the other is Mixed Neighborhood. 

“Those place type designations are only mapped in areas that are large based-lots within the community … not for existing built-out neighborhoods.”

Eddington highlighted three large vacant lots (greater than 10 acres) south of the downtown core and along each side of Highway 93 as locations being targeted for Mixed Neighborhood and Neighborhood Center designations. 

These targeted areas reflect the firm’s recommendation to grow inward first and target large lot areas for increased density and housing variety through new development — a sentiment Eddington said has been largely supported by the community in its feedback.

“These three areas would be newly developed neighborhoods that could incorporate some mixed use; that was the recommendation from the community,” Eddington said. “Then looking out into the future, we discussed the annexation opportunities. The community was generally supportive of growing inward, first, seeing how that goes over the next number of years, and if there’s a need to grow outward, prioritizing that development.”

“Looking at voluntary annexations that would meet certain criteria, providing transportation connections that are important to the community, that would connect critical infrastructure … and then also that would include dedicated workforce housing.”

The planning commission is set to consider and discuss czb’s finished draft of the Land Use Element on Feb. 4. The city council will meet Tuesday, Jan. 20, for a workshop to discuss completed chapters of the growth policy draft that have been reviewed by the planning commission, including the Economic Development Element. 

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