Whitefish plans quick action on medical marijuana
The Whitefish City Council on Monday directed city staff to draft an emergency ordinance dealing with the establishment of medical marijuana businesses in time for a vote on Dec. 7.
The actual wording of the ordinance to be brought back is unclear, but the council unanimously approved prohibiting all medical marijuana establishments on a temporary basis.
An emergency ordinance is effective for six months, which the council agreed was more than enough time to consider a permanent ordinance that could include a buffer zone around schools and churches or limit medial marijuana businesses to industrial zones or the city’s casino district.
In other business Monday, the council:
n Approved a temporary vendor’s permit for Second Street Pizza owner Dave Sheeran. The vote was 5-1, with council member Turner Askew opposed. Sheeran was the first person to apply under the city’s new rules.
Askew’s motion requiring a portable toilet died for lack of a second, but his motion requesting a staff report on Sheeran’s mobile vending business before the 60-day permit expired was approved by 5-1, with councilor Nick Palmer in opposition.
n Passed on second reading, with a minor amendment, the first major rewrite of the city’s subdivision regulations in 14 years. Surveyors now will use the 1988 Vertical Datum Standard, which sets the mean high-water level of Whitefish Lake at 3,000.79 feet.
n Voted to leave the payment-in-lieu figure for affordable housing at $11,000. Mayor Mike Jenson broke a 3-3 tie vote.
As currently written, developers of major subdivisions can obtain a 50 percent bonus density in exchange for designating 10 percent of the original units as affordable or paying the city $11,000 per unit. That money would go to the Whitefish Housing Authority.
The council discussed whether to lower the figure during a work session prior to their regular meeting as part of the required annual review.
Councilors John Muhlfeld, Nick Palmer and Askew were opposed to leaving the figure at $11,000.
n Approved 5-1 a biennial review of the city’s growth policy, with Askew in opposition.
Council member Nancy Woodruff reported on a meeting with planning staff, Askew and councilor Nick Palmer about the growth policy’s 50 percent infill trigger, which is intended to protect rural lands.
Woodruff said infill has reached 10 percent, and if more of the plats expire because of the recession, infill could soon reach 20 percent. She said the 50 percent mark was “achievable.”
n Unanimously approved the city’s annual impact fees report. A total of $454,488 has been collected since the fees were created.
n Heard from City Attorney John Phelps that he plans to retire about a year from now.