Whitefish Council considers update to zoning procedure

Whitefish City Council on Monday is set to vote on an update that would streamline its annexation process regarding zoning for properties that come into the city.

A public hearing will be held on the change that would allow Council to approve a zone change ordinance while also approving an annexation petition. Currently, those are handled separately and could mean that a given property remains under county zoning rules for several months after annexation.

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St.

Under state law, property annexing from the county into a city must change county zoning to city zoning that is either the closest equivalent to the previous zoning or is consistent with the land uses outlined in the city growth policy.

“This text amendment expedites the process and eliminates the concerning time lag between annexation and when the zoning goes into effect,” the planning staff notes in a memo.

Under the new process, annexation and the zone change would both go into effect simultaneously.

Bypassing a Planning Board hearing, once an applicant submits a petition to annex, it’s scheduled for City Council review. If Council passes a resolution of intent to annex and apply city zoning then the city publishes a notice and sends a notice to adjacent property owners.

After a public hearing, Council would vote to accept or reject the annexation and zoning. Any change would go into effect immediately.

Council could also have the option of assigning an interim zoning designation to the property.

DURING THE meeting, Council will also hold a public hearing and vote on a request by Carter Unger on behalf of Honor Bound for a zone change for a portion of the undeveloped 31 acres west of U.S. 93 South and south of Park Knoll subdivision. The request is to rezone an 11-acre portion of the property from WCR-SC special conditions to WER-SC special conditions.

The new zoning would match the underlying future land use of suburban residential for that portion of the lot, according to the planning staff report. The new zoning is intended to provide for single-family, large tract or estate development.

The special conditions provide an additional 5-foot setback from that required off of Park Knoll Lane as well as a provision that only single-family housing would be developed adjacent to Park Knoll Lane west of the future Baker Avenue intersection.

The western remainder of the lot would remain county residential with a 2.5-acre minimum lot size. The applicant stated that any future development of the parcel and adjacent ones would be done through a planned unit development process and all required buffers from the seasonal wetland would be maintained, planning staff notes.

Finally, Council will consider approving a letter showing the city’s support for the Railway Safety Act of 2023 and asking Rep. Matt Rosendale, Rep. Ryan Zinke, Sen. Steve Daines and Sen. Jon Tester to support it as well.

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