Whitefish sued over 93 South subdivision approval

A month after the Whitefish City Council approved a controversial five-lot subdivision on U.S. 93 South, a neighborhood group is suing the city of Whitefish, the council and the developer, Whitefish Housing Group, LLC, over a decision it claims “is riddled with legal violations.”

South Whitefish Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit that aims to promote proper land-use planning and the protection of Flathead County’s natural resources, filed its lawsuit in Flathead County District Court on Tuesday, alleging the council’s approval of the minor subdivision in the Park Knoll/U.S. 93 South area “creates new significant adverse impacts not addressed by the developer or the Whitefish City Council.”

The association is asking the court to void the City Council’s Sept. 16 decision that OK’d the preliminary plat on a 5-1 vote.

The association alleges the development — which includes four commercial lots and one residential lot — degrades the safety, welfare, wildlife and aesthetic values of that neighborhood, along with harming property values and neighbors’ quality of life.

Whitefish Housing Group has not yet presented specific commercial plans for the property, but as the council was weighing the merits of the preliminary plat application, Mayor John Muhlfeld said that based on site plans for the roughly 6-acre subdivision, it appears one of the commercial lots is being eyed for a hotel in the 13,000-square-foot range.

The lawsuit alleges the city violated governing law and regulations spelled out in the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act by not requiring the developer to submit a phasing plan, including a time-frame for the development of each phase.

“When a subdivider submits an application for a minor phased subdivision preliminary plat, it must contain a schedule for when the subdivider plans to submit for review each phase of the development and a time-frame for the development of each phase,” the complaint asserts, citing Montana law.

The developer’s supporting materials only stated the “development is proposed to create a commercial subdivision [on] a 5.91-acre plus-minus parcel in two phases,” the complaint pointed out.

The suit further alleges the council failed to address the effects of a geotechnical report finding that “Phase II encountered loose sandy soils” which “can exhibit collapse potential and seismic impacts which warrant further evaluation.

“The city also failed to mitigate these impacts by requiring the developer to conduct an evaluation ‘between the soil profiles’ to rule out the ‘differential concerns’ identified in the geotechnical report,” the complaint states.

Whitefish Housing Group’s proposed minor subdivision is much smaller than a plan pitched last year by Whitefish 57 LLC and Eagle Enterprises to develop some 70 acres in that same area for both commercial and residential uses on the west side of U.S. 93 South. The City Council denied that project in August 2018 amid stiff opposition.

News Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.