'Doughnut' draft ready for review time

Attorneys representing the city of Whitefish and Flathead County have drafted a new interlocal agreement for Whitefish’s “doughnut” area that includes three options for county participation in decisions affecting the two-mile planning area outside Whitefish.

A committee of city and county representatives has been meeting since March to talk about how much control the county should have in the Whitefish doughnut.

The county rescinded its interlocal agreement with Whitefish in 2008, claiming county residents had no representation when city laws such as the critical-areas ordinance extend to the doughnut. The city, in turn, sued the county and later appealed an adverse District Court ruling to the Montana Supreme Court.

Flathead District Judge Katherine Curtis then put the 2005 interlocal agreement back in force pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

In the meantime, both sides are striving to resolve the issue outside the courtroom.

The new doughnut draft largely mirrors the former interlocal agreement, but breaks out three options for county control in new legislation enactments.

Option A gives the county the most power, calling for consent from the county commissioners for new zoning and land-use planning legislation. After passing any new piece of land-use legislation, the city would have to notify the county commissioners, and the commissioners would conduct their own public hearing.

If the commissioners don’t agree with the city’s decision, they would have 10 days to provide the City Council with a written explanation for withholding consent, and the new legislation would be thrown out. The county would be required to weigh in on city decisions affecting the doughnut area within 30 days; otherwise the city’s decisions would hold.

Option B gives the county an opportunity to comment on new zoning and planning laws passed by the city, but no voting power.

Option C deletes any reference to city-county collaboration.

The committee is expected to meet next week to weigh in on the draft agreement.

Committee member Bill Kahle, a Whitefish City Council member, declined to comment on specifics of the draft, but said he’s looking forward to discussing it with the committee.

Flathead County Commissioner Jim Dupont, who has taken the lead for the county in continued talks with Whitefish, said he’s anxious to resolve the jurisdiction issue.

Missoula attorney Alan McCormick has been representing the county in the doughnut negotiations. Former Whitefish City Attorney John Phelps began meeting with the committee but handed it off to new City Attorney Mary VanBuskirk after he retired this summer.

Whitefish attorney Sean Frampton also has been meeting with the attorneys. He represents Heiko and Elizabeth Arndt and Westridge Investments, intervenors in the city’s lawsuit against Flathead County over the interlocal agreement.

Frampton said Option A is the only option that addresses the issues of the lawsuit.

“I have an issue with Options B and C,” he said. “They won’t work for my clients.”

The Arndts and Westridge Investments have the same question posed by the lawsuit — whether the interlocal agreement should be in effect to give the city exclusive zoning jurisdiction in the two-mile doughnut where residents can’t vote for elected city officials.

But their case takes it one step further, questioning whether the agreement was valid and constitutional from the beginning.

Questions remain about the Whitefish Board of Adjustment’s role in doughnut issues, Frampton said. The board is at the crux of the legal argument: Can a city board fully represent outlying residents who have no say in city matters?

Frampton said his clients have concerns about a paragraph in the newly drafted interlocal agreement that would give the city control in watershed development beyond the two-mile planning area.

“The intervenors have an issue with granting more than what’s allowed [in current city] statutes,” he said.

The draft of the restatement of interlocal agreement is available on the city of Whitefish’s website at www.whitefish.govoffice.com.

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