Whitefish takes second look at new zoning district

Whitefish City Council tonight will revisit its discussion regarding creating a new zoning district that would apply to the area south of U.S. 93 and Montana 40.

Council on Feb. 22 chose to postpone a decision on creating a new business transitional zoning district following much discussion.

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall.

The proposed zone comes out of the city’s recently adopted Highway 93 South Corridor Plan, which calls for the creation of the zoning district for newly annexed properties in the area to ensure the properties at the entrance to Whitefish are developed in a manner consistent with the community’s vision for that area.

The zoning district would allow for professional offices, medical facilities, light commercial and light manufacturing, as well as residential uses. The zoning district is intended only for the specific area and not throughout Whitefish.

Currently, the area south of Montana 40 along U.S. 93 is part of Flathead County. The new zoning would only apply to properties that request to be annexed into the city limits.

Objections to the new zoning designation have been raised by some saying that it encourages commercial development sprawl to the south.

Alan and Sallie Gratch in an email to council say they are concerned about the proposed new zoning saying it will degrade the south corridor into Whitefish with commercial zoning.

“Don’t let Whitefish become another Kalispell or Evergreen,” they say in their email. “Whitefish can do better. Whitefish needs residential housing, not more commerce.”

Attorney Michelle Weinberg, representing the South Whitefish Neighborhood Association, in a letter to council points out that the city’s growth policy calls for the area south of Montana 40 as designated for residential use and claims that the Highway 93 South Corridor Plan is inconsistent with the growth policy. She goes on to write that implementing the new zoning district will only lead to more inappropriate and damaging development proposals for “things like RV and boat sales, hotels and motels, RV parks and campgrounds, and mini storage facilities.”

“The inevitable bad development proposals that will follow approval of this new zoning district will only lead to more acrimony and discontent in our small community,” she writes.

ALSO ON the agenda, council will look at a request for several text amendments to update the zoning code regarding in-home daycares. The change will redefine the number of individuals allowed at an in-home daycare from 12 to 15 children versus what’s allowed at a daycare center.

The change is based on a change in state law that increased the number of children allowed in an in-home daycare.

Council will consider an update to the long-term lease of Memorial Park to the Glacier Twins baseball team. The Glacier Twins have a lease with the city permitting them to use the park for their stadium and baseball practices and games. As part of the update to the lease, the insurance coverage for the stadium will be increased to $1.5 million.

As part of this agreement, a Verizon cell tower is part of the Twins stadium for which Verizon provides payment that is distributed to both the Twins and the city. Related to this, the lease will designate that the Twins receive 78% of the payment from Verizon and the city will get 22%. The total amount paid from Verizon in 2021 was $23,687 and the amount anticipated in 2022 is $37,690.

Council will consider going out for bids for upgrades to Armory Park that are part of the park’s master plan. Work is expected to include an interior loop trail around the park, a parking lot, irrigation improvements, and drainage improvements. Alternatives that may be added to the project based upon cost, include a new irrigation system for the park, additional paths, benches, planting native trees, drainage improvements for the WAG Park. The preliminary construction cost for the entire project with all alternatives is $746,700.

Council is expected to vote on an amendment to the city’s lease agreement with Project Whitefish Kids for the Smith Fields sports complex. North Valley Music School has approached PWK about using a portion of the property for a new music school building, but the lease for the 51-acre property only allows for recreational activities so it must be updated to include the proposed new use.

During a work session at 6 p.m., Council will discuss the use of bear-proof garbage containers and the future of its recycling program.

In addition to in-person at City Hall, the meeting is available to view and comment via Webex.

Instructions can be found on the city’s website at https://www.cityofwhitefish.org/.

Features editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.