Whitefish considers plat extension

Four provisions in Whitefish’s subdivision regulations that deal with plat extensions are set to expire at the end of the year unless the City Council decides otherwise.

The council will hold a public hearing tonight on the expiring amendments before deciding how to proceed.

The city updated its subdivision regulations in late 2009, but the following year several developers contacted the city as their preliminary and final plat approvals were set to expire.

At that time, most developers either had extended their preliminary plats to the maximum time limit or they had extended their subdivision improvement agreements to the maximum allowed by city regulations.

The council went ahead with the amendments allowing time extensions, even though the Planning Board and council had concerns about allowing extensions for developments that were not viable.

“While they wanted to permit certain limited extensions, they felt it was appropriate to sunset these options, as the economic downturn may be temporary and permanent policy decisions shouldn’t be made in haste,” Planner Wendy Compton-Ring said in her staff report.

The planning staff recommends making two of the 2010 amendments permanent. One of those amendments allows 24 months for a subdivision improvement agreement with a possible 24-month extension. The previous standard was 18 months.

The other amendment recommended for permanent status is the ability for a preliminary plat that has gone back through the review process to obtain a new three-year approval timeframe. Previous regulations were silent on this matter.

Recommended for sunset is an amendment allowing three years between subdivision phases with a possible one-year extension. A 2011 amendment permitted two years between phases, plus a possible two-year extension, which is the same four-year timeframe between phases as the 2010 provision.

The other amendment recommended for sunset is a variance option for subdivisions approved between April 3, 2006, and March 3, 2008, but set to expire at year’s end from the current water quality regulations provided certain criteria are met. Staff found five preliminary plats approved between these dates and all of them have extended their subdivisions past the Dec. 31, 2012, deadline.

The council will hold a work session from 5:45 to 7 p.m. to further discuss the impact fee advisory committee’s recommendation to terminate some impact fees.

The regular meeting begins at 7:10 p.m.; both meetings are at Whitefish City Hall.