Whitefish considers extending arrest area

The long arm of the law may be getting a little longer in Whitefish.

The Whitefish City Council on Monday, Oct. 2, will consider passing an ordinance that will authorize Whitefish police officers to make arrests within 5 miles of city limits.

Generally police officers can’t make arrests outside their jurisdiction, but there is a state law that allows a municipality to authorize its officers to make arrests within 5 miles, according to City Manager Adam Hammatt’s report to the council. The city hasn’t to this point passed such an ordinance because the city has relied on state statutory and case-law exemptions to the general jurisdictional rule.

“Despite the city’s ability to rely upon these exemptions, it is desirable to expressly authorize the city’s police officers to make arrests within 5 miles of city limits to minimize the possibility of wasting time and resources opposing jurisdictional challenges,” Hammatt’s report stated.

The ordinance should foreclose any jurisdictional challenges for arrests made in the former Whitefish “doughnut” area outside of city limits, he added. A public hearing will be held on the matter.

The council has a number of other public hearings on its agenda.

95 Karrow LLC has asked to rezone 14 acres at the former Idaho Timber site from industrial to industrial transitional zoning.

A resolution establishing a $110 administrative processing fee for special-event permits will be considered following a hearing.

Two hearings deal with removing expired planned-unit overlays.

The first ordinance would remove the overlay on 27 acres along Big Mountain Road in an area formerly known as Coldwater Basin. This is a request by the city of Whitefish to rezone the parcel from one-family limited residential with an overlay to one-family limited residential zoning in order to removed an expired planned-unit development overlay.

A second ordinance would remove the overlay on 228.5 acres on Big Mountain Road and Whitefish Lookout Road. The city is asking to rezone 12 parcels from an agricultural and resort residential designation with an overlay to agricultural and low-density resort residential zoning to remove the expired overlay.

The council meets at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.