Whitefish studies highway corridor zoning
Proposed new transitional zoning districts along U.S. 93 West in Whitefish will be discussed during a Whitefish Planning Board work session that is part of the board’s regular monthly meeting on Thursday.
The city wants to create a mixed-use neighborhood multifamily zone and a light industrial zone along the highway. Through public input and earlier planning work sessions, the 93 West Plan now identifies the types of uses deemed appropriate in the two new zoning districts. A public hearing on the proposed text for the districts will be held in November.
The City Council wants the new districts specific to the U.S. 93 West area, according to Planning Director David Taylor’s report to the board.
Earlier this year a steering committee, along with city staff, held several meetings and an open house to get neighborhood input for the highway corridor between the Whitefish River and the Mountainside Drive area. The area includes a number of high-profile businesses and amenities, including Whitefish Lake Golf Club, the Idaho Timber site, Grouse Mountain Lodge and Great Northern Veterans Peace Park.
The plan divides the corridor into various areas and land uses on the north side of U.S. 93 W. The permitted and conditional uses proposed in the two zones were heavily vetted but were the most controversial part of the plan, “even though they were just sample zones shown in the appendix,” Taylor said.
The sample zones didn’t include development requirements for the industrial transition zone, so draft development language has been added.
Among the topics of discussion at the work session will be minimum lot requirements, front-yard setbacks and whether microbreweries should be added as a conditional use. The council was split on the microbrewery issue but voted to remove it from the sample zoning.
Three years ago Ryan Zinke, then a state senator, pulled his application for a microbrewery and bed-and-breakfast inn amid opposition from neighbors who didn’t want the commercial project in that area. Zinke, now a U.S. representative, has continued to lobby for the inclusion of microbreweries in the mixed-use zone.
Other discussion items include:
q If light industrial manufacturing, packing and storing is a permitted use, why would artisan manufacturing be a conditional use, as earlier proposed? Planning staff has suggested adding a special provision to artisan manufacturing that states “with the exception of minor accessory items related to the use of the primary products (i.e., bike helmets and brake pads at a custom bicycle shop) only items manufactured or assembled on site may be sold on the premises.”
q Coffee shops, sandwich shops and grocery stores are not typical conditional uses, as proposed in the 93 West Plan. Should those be moved to permitted uses?
Two public hearings are scheduled and are related to the same proposal on the south end of Baker Avenue. Elaine Edwards, on behalf of several limited liability companies, has asked to add trade schools, music schools and hotels to the uses allowed in the industrial and warehouse zoning for that area. She also is asking for a conditional-use permit to develop a multibuilding, multitenant development at 1842, 1844, 1846 and 1848 Baker Ave.
She is proposing to construct four buildings that will house a variety of commercial and industrial uses and a small hotel consistent with the revised zoning. The project would share access and parking with the two parcels to the north. A total of 123 spaces are being provided on the entire project.
The Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday at the temporary City Hall, 1005 Baker Ave.
Features Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 768-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.