Housing project makes sense

Whitefish Planning Board members hit the nail on the head when they called the proposed 2nd Street Residences subdivision a bit of a conundrum.

The city needs reasonably priced rental housing close to schools and downtown, but the project would dramatically change the landscape of the neighborhood by turning hay fields into a high-density (six units per acre) development.

Residents in Second Street neighborhoods have long enjoyed the pastoral green space of those fields that were annexed into the city many years ago with the understanding the property one day would be developed. They argue the proposed mix of apartments, condos and single-family homes is still too dense, even though the developers shaved off 30 units and reconfigured the apartments into numerous small buildings instead of long, massive apartment buildings.

Is this another case of NIMBY syndrome — not in my backyard — or do the neighbors have legitimate concerns?

Yes, the proposed density is higher than the immediate surrounding neighborhoods, but it’s not inconsistent with densities around the nearby Whitefish schools. The property is surrounded by urban and suburban-scale residential development, and according to the findings of fact approved by the Planning Board, the proposed zone change fits the growth policy designations of urban and suburban for those parcels.

Yes, there will be more traffic, but the anticipated 1,000 vehicle trips per day is well below the maximum capacity of 3,000 to 5,000 vehicle trips daily. Second Street will be rebuilt next summer and a bike path will be added to that road, a key connector to the city’s dog park, skate park, dirt bike park, community center and softball fields, all at Armory Park.

The Planning Board suggested the city make improvements to Armory Road a priority. While that’s a good idea, the current condition of Armory Road shouldn’t hamstring the project. The city has known how lousy that road is for years but did nothing to improve it as Armory Park and all of its amenities were developed.

Frankly, 2nd Street Residences is exactly the kind of housing project Whitefish needs to keep pace with providing places for its workers to live. A proposed planned unit development will allow the developers to preserve 68 percent open space and cluster homes. Single-family residences would line that stretch of Second Street, very similar to how the street historically was developed. Rental units would be contained in a “pocket” neighborhood within the subdivision.

Sure, we can keep the open hayfields, but do we want Whitefish to be like Vail, Colo., where workers have to commute long distances because they can’t afford to live in the resort town? The owner of these 24 acres should have the right to develop the land within the parameters of city policies.

Whitefish’s growth policy calls for infill development rather than sprawling into rural neighborhoods, and this project is simply that — infill. The Whitefish City Council must be mindful of that as it makes a final decision on the project next month.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.