Planners split over Bridgewater project
Board deadlocks on Whitefish subdivision
The proposed 82-home Bridgewater Trails subdivision east of Whitefish drew a split vote from the Whitefish City-County Planning Board on Thursday.
That means the controversial project will have no planning-board recommendation when the City Council has the final say on the project at its Dec. 5 meeting. The city planning staff, however, has recommended approval of the project with a list of 28 conditions.
Before a room full of neighbors could testify, the planning board was reminded by both the city staff and the developer's consultants that the 30.7-acre parcel is properly zoned for one-family residential development and is the last tract in the master plan that's zoned urban-residential before outlying property to the east of Whitefish switches to an agricultural designation.
Neighborhood meetings were held prior to Thursday's hearing to address traffic, drainage, trails, a buffer zone and other concerns.
Residents of the adjoining Shady River subdivision want additional spacing and a buffer zone between their properties and Bridgewater, but Whitefish Planning Director Bob Horne said that because the two subdivisions have similar lot sizes, there are no standards or requirements for buffering.
Planning-board member Dennis Bee, who owns property directly east of the Bridgewater site at the southwest corner of Voerman and Monegan roads, excused himself from the discussion and the vote, but testified that he believes the city should upgrade Park Avenue.
"There are some issues here, and I want to be proactive," Bee said.
Traffic is a paramount concern for the neighbors.
The city asked the developer, Tina Lawrence of Bridgewater Capitol Corp., to complete a traffic analysis after the planning board tabled the project in July. That report indicated about 866 daily vehicle trips would be generated after full build-out of the project, 60 percent of which would use the substandard Park Avenue to get into Whitefish. It also maintained that traffic volumes on Voerman, Monegan and Park aren't currently at capacity even during peak hours.
Horne said he tried to find accident data for the sharp curve on Park and could find none.
Several residents testified, however, that they'd witnessed several accidents. Joe Coco said he's pulled at least a dozen people out of the ditch on the "S" curve.
Shady River resident Steve Boone gave the board copies of an independent traffic study done by Innovative Transportation Solutions that critiqued the developer's traffic study and maintained traffic loads may be higher than the initial probe indicated.
Boone noted that Shady River was estimated at 20 vehicle trips per day per home when it was built many years ago, yet the Bridgewater consultant used an average of just 10 trips per day per household.
Boone also pointed to potential traffic impact as Riverside at Whitefish is built out to the south.
Horne said the city didn't ask for a full-blown, industry-standard traffic study.
"All we wanted to know is how many trips and how will people get into town, " he said.
Neighbors also are worried about drainage and the potential for stormwater runoff to flow through their yards as it makes its way to the Whitefish River. The developer proposes a system of streetside swales instead of curbs and gutters to better manage runoff. The project is subject to the city's emergency ordinance that put new subdivision construction on hold until a master stormwater plan is completed.
Shady River resident Molly Bruce said her property would be affected by water "sheeting off " Bridgewater homes.
But developer consultant Tom Cowan with Carver Engineering said "the site has excellent drainage. " Later, planning-board member Scott Sorensen declared the site has "serious groundwater problems" and that "definite flooding will occur. "
Sorensen was joined by Dan Hendrick, Lisa Horowitz and Kerry Crittenden in voting against the project. In favor were Martin McGrew, Ole Netteberg, John Wagner and Nick Palmer.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com