Council to address sales on lake, zoning issues
Planning and zoning issues topped the list of annual goals Whitefish City Councilors set for this year.
Council discussed short-term and long-term goals April 7 during a work session. Goals were in a range of areas, from regulating retail sales on Whitefish Lake and creating affordable housing, to performing corridor studies and updating the city’s zoning codes.
Mayor John Muhlfeld said retail sales on Whitefish Lake have become a concern in recent summers and he would like to see council address the issue soon.
He noted that last summer jet skis were being rented from a boat on the lake and he recently received an inquiry about selling ice cream from a pontoon boat.
“It’s obviously going to proliferate if we don’t get on it,” he said. “The city can zone the lake and that might be a possible solution.”
Councilor Jen Frandsen said she would like to do a comprehensive review of the city’s zoning code and growth policy to ensure documents are clear and in line with current uses.
“I think a lot of issues come to us when a decision needs to be made and we should have more public input in the process,” Frandsen said. “I’d like to have more clear definitions in the zoning code.”
Planning Director Dave Taylor pointed out that the city is currently reviewing its growth policy, as it does every two years, and that will come before council soon.
“Things come up when they come up and you fix things that are pressing,” he said. “There are certainly a few things that could use an audit. With any zoning code there is always going to be areas that are open to interpretation.”
On the same idea, Councilor Andy Fuery suggested a review of the various zoning districts in the city to ensure zoning matches what is happening in the district. He pointed out that although the WR-4 allows for multi-family housing, most of the residences in those areas are single-family homes.
“We need to look at each zoning district,” Fuery said. “We need to get neighbors to come in and see if the zoning is representative of what’s in the neighborhood. We know we have a lot of areas where zoning doesn’t match what’s on the ground.”
Corridor studies for two areas in the city were items the council wished to pursue. A corridor plan for the Highway 93 West area is currently being created.
Council asked to move up the priority for a Highway 93 South study that has been on the backburner while the city awaits a court decision on the planning doughnut jurisdiction.
Fuery suggested a corridor study be completed for the Wisconsin Avenue area from the viaduct to at least Big Mountain Road.
“It’s a mish-mash out there,” he said. “The zoning has always been a problem. I think there’s a lot of development pressure out there.”
Councilor Frank Sweeney said the Wisconsin Avenue study should be a higher priority than the Highway 93 South study because the city has planning control of the entire Wisconsin area.
Council decided to add increasing affordable housing to its list of short-term goals and hold a work session on the matter.
Councilor Richard Hildner said the city has largely relied on new development to create affordable housing, but that hasn’t been successful. City zoning code allows for a density bonus for developments in return for creating affordable housing.
“Council hasn’t been proactive about improving the stock of affordable housing,” Hildner said.
On the list for long-term goals, councilor Pam Barberis asked that the city consider writing a climate action plan.
“A plan that recognizes that we want to do everything, as a city, that we can to limit our impact on the planet,” she said. “Helena and Missoula have both written great plans.”
One idea didn’t seem to get any traction with the council.
Hildner suggested the city explore culling the deer inside the city limits saying that the deer population causes thousands of dollars worth of damage in the city parks.
“I don’t find it to be that big of a problem,” Sweeney commented.
Council unanimously approved the goals at their April 21 meeting.