Land-use plan back on Whitefish agenda
A revamped plan that maps out future uses for a swath of vacant land fronting U.S. 93 along the south entrance to Whitefish will be considered by the Whitefish City Council on Monday, July 2.
Whitefish 57 LLC and Eagle Enterprises initially wanted to create a neighborhood plan for 70 acres along the highway, but pulled their application from council review in April amid neighborhood concerns over impacts to wetlands and neighborhoods surrounding the property on the west side U.S. 93 between Park Knoll Lane and JP Road.
The developers’ new application pulls the wetlands acreage — about half of the 70 acres — out of the proposed plan. The new neighborhood plan proposes four different sections of commercial and residential development, with 9.5 acres of multifamily residential zoning along the east side of the future Baker Avenue extension. It calls for commercial zoning in two roughly 6-acre sections along U.S. 93, and an 11.9-acre swath of proposed urban residential zoning through the midsection of the property.
The proposal has been a hard sell for the developers, however. The Whitefish Planning Board in March unanimously recommended denial of the proposed neighborhood plan. And following a June 21 public hearing, the Planning Board deadlocked and sent the proposal to the City Council without a recommendation.
During the initial planning review, neighbors organized the South Whitefish Neighborhood Association to address a number of objections to the plan. The association maintains any approval of the developers’ plan should wait while the city updates its extension of services plan and creates a U.S. 93 South corridor plan.
Don K Whitefish owner Don Kaltschmidt, one of the partners in the development project, told the Planning Board during its recent hearing that he believes the plan is good for the community.
“You represent the community as a whole,” Kaltschmidt told the Planning Board. “This project is forward-thinking.”
A public hearing on a resolution of intention to adopt the Whitefish 57/Eagle Enterprises sub-area plan as an amendment to the city growth policy will be held during the council meeting.
In other business, the Whitefish School District is asking for a conditional-use permit to build a new elementary school at 1118 E. Seventh St. The Whitefish Planning Board last month unanimously recommended approval of the permit and spelled out nine conditions of approval.
The council will consider an ordinance establishing a procedure for disposition of unclaimed personal property that comes into possession of the Whitefish Police Department. Local law enforcement agencies receive personal property that is evidence in criminal cases, or is recovered stolen property the owner fails to claim.
Last year the Montana League of Cities and Towns sponsored legislation creating a presumptive abandonment time period and establishing a process for the disposition of unclaimed personal property. The Legislature then passed a law authorizing cities to adopt ordinances or resolutions providing for the care, restitution, sale, donation, return or destruction of unclaimed items.
The proposed Whitefish ordinance will allow the police to dispose of all unclaimed personal property having a value of more than $20 by any appropriate means after three months. Police officers will attempt to notify owners of the unclaimed property by posting a list on its website four times a year. The ordinance has a method for property owners to claim the property, and provides for publication prior to disposition of unclaimed property.
The council meets at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.
Features Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.