More Whitefish 'doughnut' workshops scheduled

The Flathead County Planning Board has scheduled two additional public workshops to discuss planning and zoning options in the “doughnut” area outside of Whitefish.

The board will take public comments and answer questions about various options.

 Workshops will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 29 and 30 in the Expo Building at the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell.

The county is in the throes of determining how to move forward with permanent county zoning in the doughnut area following a Montana Supreme Court ruling in July that ceded planning control from the city of Whitefish to Flathead County.

Interim zoning recently was approved and can be imposed for one year, with a one-year extension.

Generally, three options are on the table: Take no action and allow interim zoning to expire; update the 1996 Whitefish City-County Master Plan; and update the 1996 plan using Whitefish’s 2007 Growth Policy as a starting point.

Agendas for the workshops have been posted to the online calendar on the county website. 

Additionally, approximately 4,400 postcards containing notice of the workshops, as well as a website, phone number and email address people can use for information now and in the future, are being prepared by the Planning Office and will be mailed next week directly to landowners inside the 1996 Whitefish City-County Master Plan jurisdictional area and outside Whitefish city limits.

 An analysis of planning and zoning options that was revised by the Planning Board following an Oct. 15 public workshop has been posted to the website at http://flathead.mt.gov/planning_zoning/Drafts.php