U.S. 93 corridor plan hearing set

By LYNNETTE HINTZE

Daily Inter Lake

A corridor plan and proposed overlay use district for U.S. 93 south of Whitefish will be considered by the Flathead County commissioners on Thursday, Aug. 17.

A public hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. in the commissioner chambers on the third floor of the main Courthouse.

The proposal, which affects a 1.5-mile strip of U.S. 93 south of the intersection with Montana 40, won a favorable recommendation in May from the county Planning Board. It creates a zoning overlay district aimed at mitigating development impacts along the highway near Whitefish. The district proposes to add design standards, including landscaping, buffering, signs, architectural design, lighting and transportation improvement.

As part of its recommendation, the Planning Board suggested the commissioners consider business service district zoning for the Emerald Heights area because it allows less intrusive commercial development.

The Highway 93 South Whitefish Corridor Plan sprang from a citizen-initiated effort to establish more zoning flexibility in how property owners can use or develop their property. Land-use planning decisions were controlled by the city of Whitefish for several years before a legal battle erupted with the county and the Montana Supreme Court ceded planning control to the county.

Following revisions made by the Planning Board in January, the plan now proposes business service district zoning for only properties that largely already have commercial land uses. The area proposed for secondary business has decreased from 82 to 73 acres, and the proposed business service district has been reduced from 222 to 81 acres.

Independent land planner Dave DeGrandpre of Charlo was retained by the property owners several years ago to draft the corridor plan.

DeGrandpre addressed issues such as strip development, traffic safety and compatibility with Whitefish zoning at the Planning Board hearings in May.

While he believes the corridor plan will create more commercial development, he told the Planning Board the scale of commercial development will be dependent on development already in place. He also noted the business service district zoning was patterned after Whitefish’s business service district, and that the county secondary business zoning also mirrors what Whitefish has.

For more information, visit https://flathead.mt.gov/commissioner.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.