County moves closer to adopting corridor plan

The Flathead County commissioners last week unanimously approved a resolution of intent to adopt a corridor plan and overlay zone for properties along U.S. 93 south of Whitefish.

A final 30-day public comment period will be held prior to final approval.

The commissioners discussed the plan and accompanying overlay zone for more than five hours and spent time on Oct. 18 reviewing more than two-dozen findings of fact once again before voting on the corridor plan and overlay. The effort rezones 490 acres along the highway to include various kinds of commercial zoning and then places an overlay zone on 1.5 miles of the highway corridor to guide development and mitigate the appearance of strip development.

“This is a culmination of getting to the end of the road,” Commissioner Phil Mitchell said in closing comments. “I’m guessing there have been 10-plus meetings … We’re trying to fix an area the city had chosen to ignore for more than 10 years.”

Whitefish’s future land-use map designates the corridor as largely rural residential, and the city has opposed commercial zoning south of city limits because of lack of utility infrastructure and the potential for sprawl.

Mitchell said the zone changes and overlay are needed so property owners know exactly how their land can be developed. He believes the changes won’t lead to “massive commercial” development.

“It’s not going to be four Home Depots in a row,” Mitchell said.

The findings outlined for the zoning text amendment for the corridor note that the plan aims to “respect the cultural, geographic and historic heritage of the city of Whitefish.”

“The text amendment appears to be supported by other goals and policies of the city’s growth policy because it requires that the modest scale of development be maintained,” the county findings state. “It requires additional architectural standards very similar to the city of Whitefish; it requires additional landscaping and screening; it encourages the elimination of highway approaches and requires the dedication of road easements for future development; and it requires the dedication of bicycle/pedestrian easements.”

The need for a county corridor plan emerged after a legal battle for planning control of the Whitefish “doughnut” area between Whitefish and Flathead County was decided in favor of the county by a 2014 Montana Supreme Court ruling.

During the doughnut litigation residents along the highway argued they were being held in limbo for planning decisions about their property. They hired a land-use planner to draft a plan that spells out zoning and development parameters.

Commercial development along the corridor has occurred through the years, with many businesses operating as nonconforming uses with a conditional-use permit.

Commissioner Gary Krueger said the current method of growth through the use of conditional-use permits “is not the way to do planning.

“If we’re trying to produce a corridor to the city of Whitefish,” conditional-use permits don’t offer any continuity, Krueger added. “We’re using zones [in the corridor] that we have in our zoning regulations, but to create the corridor we used the South Whitefish Overlay to further regulate without changing our zoning.”

The commissioners chose to leave the proposed secondary business zoning in place for the properties near the intersection of U.S. 93 and Montana 40. Residents of the Emerald Heights subdivision pushed for more restrictive business service district zoning, arguing secondary business zoning allows high-impact uses such as convenience stores.

In the end the commissioners decided the overlay would require site plan review that would address development impacts.

Commissioner Pam Holmquist said she believes the corridor plan has yielded a good planning process with ample public participation.

“It’s nice that we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Holmquist said. “My hope is that everyone will see this as a positive step forward, including the city of Whitefish.”

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