Whitefish looks at church plans for new building
Whitefish City Hall in downtown Whitefish. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot FILE)
A Whitefish church is seeking permission to construct a youth and teen activity building on its property on Lamb Lane.
Whitefish Assembly of God is seeking a conditional use permit for the building planned to include a multi-purpose room and four classrooms. Following a public hearing, Whitefish City Council will consider the request on Monday.
City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St.
The church plans to construct a second building on its 20-acre property to the west of the existing church building. The property is zoned agriculture and a conditional use permit is required for churches in that zoning district.
The building would be single-story and used for activities associated with the church.
Constructed in 2006, the church has 162 parking spaces, which is more than the required 93 for the size of the building. A site plan for the youth building calls for an additional 77 spaces, but city planning staff recommends that the church not add any additional parking unless it finds that additional parking is needed.
A zone change goes before Council seeking to change the zoning of two parcels from low-density multi-family residential to general resort business at 1350 and 1352 Wisconsin Ave. The change is being requested to bring zoning in line with the existing use and to facilitate future development.
The properties have single-family homes on each lot and accessory structures.
The existing zoning limits the owner’s ability to use the lots for overflow parking, expanded employee housing and other activities related to The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, according to the planning staff report.
During a work session at 6:15 p.m., Council will review the Whitefish Rail Corridor Crossing Study, which looks at State Park Road, Birch Point Drive, the Baker Avenue viaduct and East Second Street railroad crossings.
The goal of the study is to identify barriers to emergency services and wildfire evacuation, along with limitations the crossings may pose to businesses, housing and recreation.
The project is funded through a Federal Railroad Administration grant.
Deputy Editor Heidi Desch can be reached at 406-758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.