Whitefish board finally full
Recent appointments by both the city of Whitefish and Flathead County have filled all of the vacancies on the Whitefish City-County Planning Board.
The nine-member board — working with four vacant seats — had struggled to conduct business in recent months, canceling two meetings because the remaining five board members couldn’t get a quorum.
The county commissioners appointed Theodore Roosendahl while the Whitefish City Council last week appointed Scott Wurster and Karen Reeves. The fourth vacancy was filled by John Ellis, who was appointed to represent the Flathead Conservation District.
Reeves, who lives outside Whitefish and previously served as board chairwoman, had applied for one of the county positions on the board, but the commissioners declined to appoint her.
In an unusual twist, the city appointed Reeves on May 5, citing a state law that allows the mayor and the commissioners to alternate in the appointment of citizen vacancies to a city-county planning board.
Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns sent a letter to the commissioners, noting the board meeting cancellations and pointing out the state law giving the city the option of appointing a citizen to fill out the remaining one year of the vacant term.
Big projects back on Whitefish agenda
By LYNNETTE HINTZE
The Daily Inter Lake
The Whitefish City-County Planning Board on Thursday will consider three major proposals that were postponed last month because the board did not have a quorum to hold public hearings and vote on recommendations.
The owners of The Lodge at Whitefish Lake are proposing a major lakeshore variance to expand an existing public marina.
The marina currently is limited to 85 slips under terms of the original 1990 planned unit development.
An amendment would increase the number of boat slips from 85 to 103, using additional lakeshore property the Averill family recently purchased. All 18 of the additional slips would be available for public use, with 14 slips set aside for the public lottery system conducted by The Lodge while four slips would be restricted to day use only.
City Hall has received email comments from both supporters and opponents of the marina expansion.
The city planning staff recommends approval of nine additional slips based on lakeshore frontage but recommends denial of the major variance and lakeshore construction permit request for the additional nine slips, the additional constructed area and the gangway extension into Whitefish Lake.
A second major proposal deals with a new design plan for the proposed Second Street Residences housing development on East Second Street. Developers Will MacDonald and Sean Averill of Community Infill Partners now want to build a 62-lot subdivision made up of 54 single-family homes and eight townhouses.
A year ago the developers presented a proposal for a mixed-use project with 174 housing units. After that plan met with overwhelming neighborhood opposition, MacDonald and Averill withdrew their application and came up with a scaled-back plan for 150 units that also was deemed too dense for that area, a 24-acre open tract near the intersection of East Second Street and Armory Road.
A third proposal trimmed the number of units to 143, but with continuing opposition the developers pulled the application before the City Council could act on it.
The current proposal reduces the density from 7.3 to 2.6 dwelling units per acre.
A third project on the board’s agenda Thursday is a conditional-use permit request to expand Whitefish Christian Academy on Ashar Avenue with up to four temporary modular classrooms. The additional classrooms would serve an expanding student population until a larger permanent facility could be built.
Initially two modular classrooms would be added. Two more units would be installed if it takes longer to build at a new location.
The Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday at Whitefish City Hall.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.