Hearing set on future of Whitefish 'doughnut'

by The Daily Inter Lake
| August 25, 2014 4:45 AM

The Flathead County commissioners will hold a public hearing Sept. 2 to move forward with establishing county zoning in the two-mile planning “doughnut” around Whitefish.

The hearing begins at 9 a.m. at the commissioner chambers on the third floor of the main courthouse in Kalispell.

It’s the next formal step in transitioning from city to county jurisdiction as ordered in a recent state Supreme Court ruling that gave planning control back to Flathead County.

Most Whitefish zones will be converted to a similar existing county zoning classification, county Planning Director BJ Grieve said.

The Whitefish Mountain Resort area will be converted to a resort business zone that incorporates the currently adopted overall development plan and neighborhood plan for that area, Grieve said.

There are also two unique “W” zones that have no equivalent county zone — Whitefish Resort Residential-1 and Whitefish Business Service District — so those are being replaced with a special interim county version of the Whitefish zone.

Maps of the proposed interim zoning district can be found online at

http://flathead.mt.gov/planning_zoning/Drafts.php.

Those with questions may contact planner Erik Mack at the Flathead County Planning Office, 751-8200.