Planning agenda a full one in Whitefish

With a deadline for Whitefish's growth-policy update bearing down on planners, the Whitefish City-County Planning Board and City Council got a preview Monday of the workload ahead for the coming year.

Both groups agreed the plate is full, if not overflowing.

"I'm feeling some urgency to get going on this," Whitefish Planning Director Bob Horne said about the yearlong process of shaping Whitefish's 1996 master plan into a state-mandated growth policy. October 2006 "is a statutory target. I don't think they'll throw anyone in jail if they don't meet that date."

The growth-policy revision heads a long list that council members and planners chewed over during a joint work session. Zoning of the unzoned areas in Whitefish's new 2-mile planning jurisdiction is next on the list, and is currently under way. It will take four to six months to complete, Horne figured.

The Shiloh Avenue corridor study is another item on the long-range planning list. That city street divides commercial activity along U.S. 93 and new residential neighborhoods along the Whitefish River. Whether the street should be a commercial collector or a neighborhood street is the crux of the study.

The city also needs a long-range critical-areas study to draft standards for development in or around steep slopes, wetlands, drainage and critical wildlife habitat. Horne envisions a six- to eight-month process after the growth policy is updated. Earlier this year the city issued an emergency ordinance putting decisions on subdivisions in poorly drained areas on hold while a master stormwater plan is finished.

Whitefish residents can expect some tweaking of city codes in the months to come. Revised standards for guest houses and accessory apartments go to public hearing before the planning board on Oct. 20.

Tree retention standards for private property will be considered, and even fences in residential yards could see some alterations.

Horne said fences in Whitefish tend to be a "tad" high. Normal front-yard fences average 42 inches; in Whitefish 48 inches is allowed. Rear and side fences are typically 72 inches, but 78 inches is allowed. Chain-link fences in front yards could be prohibited, too.

Since Blanchard Lake is in the city's new planning area, Whitefish lakeshore protection regulations will eventually take over, and that means changes. The county's lakeshore rules allow wooden piers; Whitefish regulations don't.

Also in the coming year, developers could see the planned-unit development process revamped to better describe the purpose and intent of the plan.

"As a staff, we're not terribly happy with the PUD and what we're getting," Horne said.

He'd like to see standards for functional and environmentally oriented open space and a requirement of a clear community benefit for varying standards.

Mayor Andy Feury said he was concerned that neighborhood plans weren't specifically listed on the priority list, and said he hoped they'd continue to be developed alongside the growth-policy revision.

There also was discussion about whether to streamline the planning process to just one public hearing per development project (hearings are currently held at both the planning board and council levels) but the groups agreed the two-hearing system seems to work well.

"Maybe if it ain't broke, don't fix it,"

planning-board chairman Nick Palmer suggested.

Horne weighed in on the matter, saying "you're doing a good job of making it work together."

The two boards also agreed by consensus to make more planning time for larger development projects. The 45-day time limit for the planning process works well for conditional-use permits and small-lot subdivisions, Horne said.

"It doesn't work so well for projects like Great Bear Inn and Arrowhead Ranch," he said.

The upcoming Boardwalk at Whitefish Lakes development east of the Lodge at Whitefish Lake on Wisconsin Avenue may be the "guinea pig" for an extended planning deadline. Boardwalk developers have asked to use two planning-board meetings to present their application and have a public hearing.

The project, anticipated to be controversial because it involves wetland areas, will be presented to the planning board on Oct. 20. A public hearing would be started at that meeting and continued at the November meeting.

"I think it's an approach worth trying," Horne said.

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