Whitefish drafts new building standards

For the first time in 12 years, the city of Whitefish is proposing substantive changes to design and construction standards for building projects in Whitefish.

Among the proposed changes are more specific requirements for stormwater-facility maintenance and erosion control, plus a new chapter on requirements for geotechnical site characterizations required for underground structures.

"Engineers have been asking for these [updated standards' for years," Whitefish Senior Project Engineer Karin Hilding said. "It's much easier if they have consistent guidance and clear rules.

"And we'd like to see more consistent plans from engineering firms, too," she said.

The new standards - revised from the city's 1997 standards - will be considerably more voluminous because they will contain more than 70 detailed drawings of required engineering details.

One of the major changes would increase the maintenance-bond requirement from 10 to 20 percent of the total value of the public infrastructure, and would extend the bond time from one to two years. Kalispell has adopted similar regulations, Hilding said.

Sometimes it takes longer than a year to establish and stabilize grass vegetation around a swale or collection pond, she explained.

"Most projects involve some type of system that needs maintenance," she said. "The city doesn't want to find that they're not operating correctly."

Details and requirements for erosion and sediment control have been expanded considerably from the 1997 standards.

Most noteworthy is a new requirement for an erosion and sediment control plan for any construction activity where the disturbed area exceeds 1,000 square feet.

It means almost all building permits will be affected, Hilding said, noting that the city of Kalispell has a similar requirement.

In the past, erosion plans were required for development of more than 5,000 square feet of new impervious area or areas greater than one acre.

Erosion plans don't have to be completed by an engineer, though, she added. Contractors, landscape architects or even the homeowner of a single-family dwelling will be able to submit plans.

"We will provide brochures for single-family home construction, with example erosion-control plans to make this requirement easy to follow," Hilding said.

The proposed standards also will allow for greater flexibility in street design for new subdivisions. A new low-impact design option would allow a 20-foot minimum asphalt surface, two-foot shoulders and swales. The old standards required a minimum of 24 feet of asphalt.

There are new chapters for bike paths, traffic-impact studies and traffic-calming devices in the new standards, along with a checklist for the critical-areas ordinance requirements.

In December, the city sent the revised standards to everyone on its critical-areas mailing list, Hilding said, and generally has gotten positive feedback from engineers.

The proposed standards are available on the city Web site at www.whitefish.govoffice.com, in the public-works category.

The City Council will consider the new standards following a public hearing on Feb. 2.

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