County plans interim zoning in doughnut
Interim zoning is being considered for the planning doughnut outside Whitefish city limits.
Flathead County Commissioners last week approved moving forward with establishing interim zoning for the area to replace the zones Whitefish had adopted. A public hearing on the matter is set for Tuesday.
Under state law, interim zoning is allowed for up to one year, with a one-year extension. The boundaries of the proposed interim zoning district is one mile from the city limits.
In the notice, the commissioners state that to serve the needs of citizens within the doughnut, the county has no option but to begin administering immediate control over the planing area with interim zoning.
“It is imperative for an orderly progression of events for interim zoning to be established until the county holds public meetings and conducts studies to establish permanent zoning in the area,” the document states.
The county took control of the doughnut after the Montana Supreme Court in July ruled in favor of the county in the long-running doughnut dispute. The court decision determined the 2010 interlocal agreement between the city and county was not subject to referendum and therefore had been legally terminated by the county.
Most of the Whitefish zones are proposed to be converted to similar existing county zoning classifications, according to Planning Director B.J. Grieve. However, two new zoning classifications will be created to replace Whitefish zones that have no similar classification.
Agricultural becomes suburban agricultural; county residential becomes rural residential; suburban residential stays the same; estate residential becomes one-family limited residential; one-family limited residential becomes one-family residential; two-family residential stays the same; secondary business becomes general business; and industrial and warehousing becomes heavy industrial.
Creating two new zoning classifications, the county proposed adding low density resort residential to replace the same Whitefish designation and business service district to replace business services.
The Whitefish Mountain Resort area on Big Mountain will be converted to resort business. Currently the mountain is zoned with two designations — Big Mountain village and Big Mountain resort residential. The current Big Mountain neighborhood plan and overall development plan will remain part of the county zoning district.
Big Mountain could become part of the city in the future. As part of a sewer agreement, the city can begin discussions with the mountain in 2022 for possible annexation.
The public hearing is set for Sept. 2 at 9 a.m. at the Flathead County Courthouse in Kalispell. For more information and detailed maps of the proposed zoning, visit http://flathead.mt.gov/planning_zoning/Drafts.php
For questions, contact county planner Erick Mack at the Flathead County Planning Office at 751-8200.