'Doughnut' residents let their hair down

Business group's survey shows strong opposition to city's 2-mile jurisdiction

By RICHARD HANNERS/Whitefish Pilot

With ballots still trickling in, a local business group's mail-in survey of "doughnut" residents indicates strong opposition exists to city authority in its two-mile planning and zoning jurisdiction.

Flathead Building and Industry Association executive director Denise Smith presented the Flathead County Commissioners and the White-fish City Council with results of the survey on June 2.

FBIA mailed 5,100 ballots to "doughnut" area residents asking them if they wanted to be governed by the city council. A letter that accompanied the ballots claimed the city's controversial Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) harms property values and urged residents "to fight for your rights."

Smith said more than 800 surveys have been returned, and 90 percent of them indicate property owners no longer want to be under the city's jurisdiction.

Smith suggested not debating the slant of the letter that came with the ballots, considering the size of the return. She said the FBIA survey clearly refutes Whitefish city attorney John Phelps' claim that discontent in the "doughnut" exists only amongst a small vocal minority.

"It's not the FBIA that is creating divisiveness," she told the council.

Steve Qunell, vice chairman of the Whitefish City-County Planning Board and a Democratic candidate for county commissioner, had a different take on Smith's remarks to the council.

"Doughnut" residents were being misled by misinformation, particularly in the opinion pages of local newspapers, he claimed. Many enjoy living near Whitefish, he said.

Qunell suggested several ways the council could bring "doughnut" residents back under city jurisdiction — apply the CAO's environmental regulations only to subdivisions, suspend the ordinance altogether until the lawsuit is resolved, or make the ordinance more easier to administrate.

Mayor Mike Jenson reminded the public that the council is not ignoring the "doughnut" issue, even if the town hall meeting he planned did not take place.

The issue of governance in the two-mile planning jurisdiction is "on the back burner," he said, but other steps are being considered.

He also pointed out that 800 returned ballots represents less than 10 percent of the population.

Among the comments on FBIA's pro-city ballots:

? "I prefer to be governed by six council members and a mayor."

? "I believe the CAO is a good policy and that it will enhance our property quality and value."

? "I have much more confidence in the city of Whitefish than in the current county commissioners."

? "I don't trust Realtors or the FBIA to protect the environment or water supply."

? "What a biased survey. And a joke."

Comments in the anti-city ballots were likewise emotional. Some residents supported suing the city, and many called the city's action "taxation without representation." Among the comments:

? "We have tried to sell our property and can't because of the zoning and refusal of the council's doughnut plans for U.S. Highway 93. It is unfit as a residential property."

? "To have a government body tell me 'we will tell you what you can and cannot do with your property, and you have no say in it' is the stuff that revolutions are made of."

? "We need a Boston Tea Party."

? "Who could possibly want to come under the jurisdiction of the Whitefish City Council? Look what they did to Safeway. The lunatics think they own the asylum."

? "I would also like the city of Whitefish to rescind jurisdiction over Whitefish Lake."

? "If I wanted the yay-hoos that run Whitefish to have control of my property, I would have moved into town 37 years ago."

? "Whitefish has already been destroyed. They should leave the rest of us alone."

? "The CAO is draconian — if the city wants park lands, let them buy it."

? "I moved out of Whitefish in 1991 because I didn't want to be part of their California Dream. Now it seems I'm being drawn back in. Must I move again?"

? "Whitefish wants to be like Vail. We don't."

? "Sounds like a banana republic dictatorship."

? "I am trying to sell my property in the doughnut area and haven't had a single offer in over a year."

? "I'm mad as hell."