Hospital proposes enlarged medical village
Whitefish Pilot
The Whitefish City-County Planning Board will look at a growth policy amendment request that would allow more than 100,000 square feet of new construction on about 11 acres next to North Valley Hospital. The board will meet tonight in the city council chambers at 6 p.m.
The hospital seeks to amend its 2004 neighborhood plan to identify general areas of future development. No phasing plan has been submitted, and final site plans would need to go through the hospital's planned-unit development (PUD) permit.
The proposal calls for up to 15 buildings in three designated areas west and north of the hospital. One area would be set aside for a 48,000-square-foot medical facility. The current hospital's footprint is 74,000 square feet, and the city's new box-store regulations kick in at 15,000 square feet.
North Valley Hospital's neighborhood plan currently designates 80 percent of its 45.2 acres as open space and provides for 1.1 miles of trails.
The additional development would reduce open space to 59 percent, but additional open space could be lost to reconfigured stormwater infrastructure. The hospital currently shares a stormwater detention pond with Deer Creek, a high-density residential development to the north formerly called The Views.
The hospital's proposal was brought to city planners last fall. Hospital officials cite an increasing demand for local medical services and say the existing medical village is completely occupied.
City planners note that North Valley Hospital is the largest employer in Whitefish and that the growth policy calls for diversifying the city's tourist-focused economy. They also note that the 2004 neighborhood plan calls for maintaining the site's "open space heritage" and recognizes the importance of the area as the "gateway to the community."
A traffic impact study completed in May found that intersections in the area will continue to operate at an acceptable level of service. The hospital says it continues to support JP Road and River Lakes Parkway as the main route to the hospital from the north, as called for in the neighborhood plan,
North Valley Hospital's request will go to the Whitefish City Council on July 6.
Also on the planning board agenda are proposed regulations for street vendors, a request for an accessory apartment on O'Brien Avenue and a code amendment that would allow music and dance schools in the WR-4 zone.