Neighbors opposed to apartments planned near schools

The Whitefish Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, to discuss a conditional-use permit for a proposed apartment complex near the new Muldown Elementary School.

The property owner, Whitefish-based Reisch Family Partnership, proposes to build two 18-unit apartment buildings to the southwest of the intersection of Seventh Street and Pine Avenue. The units would come with a clubhouse, 50 parking spaces and further development of East Eighth Street.

In addition to being across from the new Muldown campus, the complex would be next door to Whitefish Christian Academy, Whitefish Community School and Children’s House Montessori, and approximately two blocks from the high school. The proposed site, at 1013 E. Seventh St. and 1022 E. Eighth St., is zoned WR-4 for high-density multi-family residential development. A conditional-use permit is required for developments with more than seven dwelling units in the WR-4 zone, according to a planning staff report.

“The goal for the project is to provide new workforce and affordable apartments for rent in a safe, enjoyable environment within walking distance of the schools and rest of downtown,” Montana Creative Architecture and Design wrote in a letter to properties within 300 feet of the proposed development.

“This project is catered to groups including seniors, single workers, couples and small families meeting their short- (minimum rental of 30 days) or long-term needs.”

This is the first project Whitefish will review under its Legacy Homes Program, which requires 20% of all new residential developments to be set aside for long-term affordability. The program went into effect on July 3, based on a recommendation from the city’s 2017 Strategic Housing Plan.

However, the nature of the project and the proximity to schools has nearby residents concerned.

Sara Thormon, a social worker who lives next door to the proposed development, said she is concerned about putting a “low-rent, transitory apartment complex in the middle of six schools.”

She estimated the complex would add “70 cars’ worth of traffic” based on the number of apartments, and said the neighborhood is already congested as parents line up in their vehicles to drop off and pick up their kids.

“Whitefish is known for its community,” Thorman told the Daily Inter Lake, and the developer is “allowing a change in community culture” by designing an apartment complex with “a Motel 6 atmosphere.”

The Planning Board has received nearly 50 letters from residents echoing Thorman’s concerns and opposing the development’s current proposal. Much of the opposition focuses on congestion and increased traffic in a neighborhood full of schools.

Brian and Mariah Joos wrote to the board that 36 units is too many for the area and will result in “decreased pedestrian and bicycle safety in an already traffic-stressed corridor.” It is also double the number of units “zoning allows as a matter of right.”

The Joos’ letter discusses light pollution, alleging street lights for the complex’s parking lot would shine directly into a row of single-family homes directly west of the lot. “Constant light shining into our bedrooms all night, every night would not only devalue our property, but would also be detracting from our right to quiet enjoyment of our property,” the letter states.

In another letter to the Planning Board, Tony Veseth wrote the project “should be the subject of a complete and transparent public process, not approved quietly through an administrative conditional-use permit.”

Whitefish Zoning Administrator Dave Taylor elevated the project from an administrative conditional-use permit to a full conditional-user permit process.

Veseth wrote that the project fails to address noise concerns as required by city code.

“This proposal does not even substantively address noise, let alone effectively deal with it,” Veseth stated in his letter, adding that residents will be able to use the complex’s hot tub 24 hours a day without restriction, which would “inevitably result in additional noise” at night.

The city’s planning staff report addresses the noise issue, stating “no impact is anticipated beyond what would be expected from a typical apartment building.”

It also discusses the applicant’s traffic impact study, performed in mid-September, which found “196 new trips per day will be added to existing streets.” The report notes that an apartment building’s peak vehicle trips do not generally coincide with normal peak traffic periods for a school.

The report states the project will improve the frontage along Eighth Street by dedicating additional right-of-way and developing sidewalks, “which will help connect this project to the schools and larger community.” It would also “include streetlights for safety.”

But Thormon said the traffic impact study is insufficient, as “we don’t know what the traffic is going to be like” once Eighth Street is expanded and Muldown Elementary moves into its new campus.

The report recommends the Planning Board recommend the conditional-use permit for approval to the Whitefish City Council. If the Planning Board goes forward with recommendation, it would go to the City Council for a subsequent public hearing and final action on Monday, Jan. 6.

Reporter Colin Gaiser can be reached at 758-4439 or cgaiser@dailyinterlake.com