Large-scale subdivision heads before Whitefish Council

Whitefish City Council on Tuesday is set to vote on a 92-acre subdivision proposed on East Edgewood Drive that would include industrial lots, multi-family development and single-family lots.

Council is meeting on Tuesday because of the Labor Day holiday. City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E Second St.

Council is set to consider several requests by 1291 Edgewood LLC for the project known as the Edgewood 90 Project.

Council at its last meeting held a public hearing on the matter but delayed a decision. It heard concerns about the proposal including increased traffic in the area and loss of agricultural land.

“This proposed land use, which requires deforestation and loss of agricultural use, will greatly change the landscape and usage of East Edgewood Drive,” said Robin Edwards, noting that the family owns the property directly across from the proposal. “It is apparent that the new owners have requested the city annex the property to circumvent the current zoning and housing requirements.”

The requests by 1291 Edgewood LLC include a growth policy amendment to the future land use designation from planned industrial to urban for 3.4 acres, a rezone of the same acreage from industrial to two-family residential and a preliminary plat for a 15-lot subdivision for the entire property. It also includes a planned unit development overlay for a portion of the subdivision to facilitate a multi-family development on 3.4 acres and permit smaller lot sizes in the agricultural district to the east of East Second Street.

The properties are currently undeveloped and zoned industrial and county SAG-10 and AG-20.

On the western side of the development, the applicant is proposing five industrial lots and one lot to have 30 multi-family units in three buildings with associated parking. Six of the units are proposed to be deed restricted for affordability.

On the eastern side of the development, the applicant is proposing nine rural residential lots.

The project includes 4.6 acres of open space with a proposed 10-foot-wide shared use path connecting a new public street in the development to East Second Street.

The PUD is necessary to construct the multi-family within the WR-2 and blend the densities on the east side to spread out the lots across the entire 66 acres with lots ranging in size from 3.5 acres to 15 acres. In exchange for the zoning deviation, the applicant is providing public access, a public facility and affordable housing for the community benefit, the city staff report notes.

ADOPTING THE Whitefish Transportation Plan is also up for consideration by Council at the meeting.

The city recently completed work to update its transportation plan to account for areas in the city already developing and areas that could see growth over the 20-year study horizon. The plan looks at future road locations serving as a guide as the community grows and properties in outlying areas are subdivided.

The plan is meant to be a guide for the transportation system including travel by private vehicles, public transportation, and foot and bicycle traffic. It describes the existing systems and looks forward at travel demand forecasting and projected travel conditions.

It identifies specific problems with intersections and signals and outlines potential improvements to the network. It prioritizes goals and objectives to improve transportation and set policies and tasks to achieve those objectives.

ALSO ON the agenda, Council will consider rejecting bids for the reconstruction of the Grouse Mountain parking lot. The project involves the reconstruction of about 12,600 feet of parking lot for the city’s park and rest area on U.S. 93. The parking lot is in a state of disrepair and requires complete reconstruction to improve drainage and surface conditions.

City staff is recommending that Council reject bids received for the project after they came in between 33% and 61% higher than the engineer's estimate of $142,395 for the project. The low bid for the project was about $190,000 and the high bid was about $228,000.

It is presumed that busy contractor schedules, along with inflated costs for labor, fuel and materials have contributed to the underestimated cost to complete the project, Public Works Director Craig Workman said. He says that the city may see more cost-effective construction costs if the work is rebid in the future.

Council will consider approving two grant applications for the city.

One for the Safe Streets for All program that would provide funding for the city to develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, which is a necessary component of future Safe Streets construction grants for transportation infrastructure improvements.

The other grant is for a Railroad Crossing Elimination PRogram under the Federal Railroad Administration. The goal of the application is to obtain funding for a planning document that would examine the existing railroad crossings in Whitefish and propose projects to improve safety, including at the existing viaduct and crossing improvements to State Park Road and Birch Point Drive.

Features Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.