Workforce housing proposal stalled

The Whitefish City Council on Monday put the brakes on a proposal to allow workforce housing in the city’s business district.

The council tabled an ordinance proposed by the city to amend zoning regulations to permit multifamily and workforce housing in above-ground commercial buildings and conditionally allow such housing throughout the secondary business district.

Delaware North, the parent company that owns the Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge and Pine Lodge, sought to use the proposed zoning text amendments to remodel an eight-unit annex behind the Best Western into housing for lodging staffers at both hotels.

Rocky Mountain Lodge General Manager Kristen Stokes wrote a letter to the city, outlining a plan to convert the annex into 12 living units that would have 24-hour onsite management.

Residential housing currently isn’t allowed in the business district, but Whitefish Planning Director Dave Taylor, responding to a question from the council, said the city doesn’t regulate how long hotel rooms can be rented and pointed to the Whitefish Motel as a lodging facility that allows long-term rentals.

Rhonda Fitzgerald, owner of Garden Wall Inn, said the Best Western annex rooms could be rented at any price or duration to accommodate its workers.

“They can rent those rooms to their workers right now,” she said.

Stokes said Wednesday that Delaware North will proceed with renting the annex rooms to hotel workers.

“It will be a heavily subsidized rent, but it will be handled through a payroll deduction,” she said in an email to the Daily Inter Lake.

Fitzgerald was one of several citizens who said the city should put the zoning text amendments on hold until the second phase of a comprehensive workforce housing strategy is completed.

Mayre Flowers of Citizens for a Better Flathead said the text amendments are premature until a city committee that is working on a rewrite of planned-unit development parameters can issue its recommendations. The city also has committed to a corridor study of the area that includes the secondary business district, she noted.

For immediate workforce housing needs, “there may be other tools” the city has to address those needs, Flowers said.

The desperate need for affordable housing prompted the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce last year to conduct a needs assessment about the housing shortage in Whitefish, particularly as it applies to workforce housing.

The big conundrum for the resort community is that in the midst of this dire need, an inventory of proposed and pending housing development shows only 10 affordable housing units are in the works — six are under construction and four are proposed.

Whitefish will need about 245 housing units per year, or a total of 980 housing units, to meet the demand through 2020. Of those units, about 605 should be provided at more affordable prices than supplied by the market to meet the full range of needs of the local workforce, the study recommended.

All totaled, Whitefish needs 670 housing units to catch up to the current need and another 310 to keep up with the demand through 2020.

The growing short-term rental market is exacerbating the housing crunch in Whitefish. More rentals are now on 6- or 9-month lease terms so they can be leased at premium prices during the peak summer season, decreasing the availability of units for year-round local residents, according to the study.

The second phase of the Chamber of Commerce’s housing task force plan is to develop a strategic plan to identify the options available to the city in dealing with housing needs. The target date to launch the strategic planning process is April 1.

“We’re not the only community out there that’s dealing with this problem,” Chamber Executive Director Kevin Gartland said. “Mountain and resort towns like ours have been grappling with the workforce housing issues for decades, with varying degrees of success.”

Gartland said the Chamber will be looking for programs and techniques that have been successful in other similar ski towns.

Funding for the workforce housing strategic plan is provided by a Community Development Block Grant, with matching funds from the city of Whitefish.

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