Whitefish microbewery gets Planning Board OK
Ryan Zinke’s proposed microbrewery and bed and breakfast inn along the U.S. 93 West corridor in Whitefish won Planning Board approval recently despite a recommendation from planners to table the project until a corridor study is done.
The Planning Board will forward a recommendation in favor of a nonresidential planned unit development overlay for Zinke’s project to the Whitefish City Council, which will hold a final public hearing on Dec. 3.
The council and city staff will tour the site, meeting at the property at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
A Whitefish native, Zinke served 23 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL and is state senator for District 2 until the end of the year. He was the lieutenant governor candidate on the ticket of Republican Neil Livingstone, who lost in the June primary election.
Zinke’s project involves three parcels along U.S. 93 at 340, 409 and 415 W. Second St. Two parcels for the bed and breakfast are on the south side of the highway and property for the microbrewery is on the north side of the highway.
The proposed Snow Frog Inn bed and breakfast — located on property that’s been in Zinke’s family for 75 years — would offer six guest rooms in one home plus three guest rooms and onsite manager quarters in an adjacent home.
At the proposed microbrewery across the road, two existing older homes would be removed to make way for a new 3,010-square-foot building and space for a parking lot. Zinke has plans to build The Double Tap to look like a Great Northern Railway granary.
The Planning Office said the project doesn’t comply with the Whitefish growth policy. Very limited commercial activity is permitted in that area, which is zoned low-density multifamily residential. Planners acknowledged the nature of the corridor is changing and may change even more when the highway is rebuilt.
The first phase of highway reconstruction is anticipated to begin next year.
Zinke told the Planning Board he’s not willing to pay for a corridor study. Ultimately the board voted to recommend the project without requiring such a study.
The consensus among Planning Board members was that the highway corridor already is changing and that business development should be encouraged. Board member Mary Vail cast the only vote against recommending approval of the project.
About a half-dozen neighbors testified at the Nov. 15 Planning Board hearing about their concerns.
They believe the development will change the character of their quiet residential neighborhood and they’re worried about increased traffic and noise.
Zinke pointed out that the tasting room at the brewery, by state law, can only be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is restricted to serving 48 ounces of beer in 24 hours per person.
As part of the planned-unit development Zinke has proposed a 16-foot public access easement on the brewery property for a bike path that eventually would connect to the city’s trail along the Whitefish River.
Another development proposal on West Second Street also was recommended for approval by the Planning Board. Randy Bradley is seeking a conditional-use permit for an 11-unit condominium project with five professional office spaces.
The development would include five buildings, with one fronting Second Street/U.S. 93 and four connected by a driveway to West First Street.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.