Whitefish land use decisions delayed

Two major land use recommendations for areas outside of Whitefish have been delayed another week.

The Flathead County Planning Board was scheduled to vote Dec. 10 on recommendations for lakeshore protection and the long-range planning and zoning options for the former doughnut area. However, a clerical error by the county planning office left the board with no choice but to continue the issues until a special meeting on Dec. 17.

County Planning Director BJ Grieve requested the delay after his office inadvertently left out a set of written comments given at a previous workshop that was intended to be forwarded to planning board members for review.

“People have the right to expect that you have read those comments,” he said.

Apologizing for the mistake, Grieve held up the three-inch stack of papers, saying the board should take the time to consider the comments before making a decision.

The county planning board is tasked with making a recommendation to the county commissioners on how to proceed regarding lake and lakeshore regulation, and transitioning planning and zoning from city to county control for rural areas outside Whitefish city limits.

The board agreed to the delay, but wanted to make sure decisions are made as soon as possible.

“We need to do this before the end of the year,” board member Greg Stevens said. “The new board members next year won’t be able to get up to speed on this.”

The City-County Lake and Lakeshore Protection Committee, which dealt with Whitefish and Lost Coon lakes, was suspended this summer following a Montana Supreme Court decision in July that gave the county jurisdiction over the 2-mile planning doughnut.

Six option shave been presented to the planning board on how to handle the lakeshore protection regulations, including, amending the county’s current regulations, adopting Whitefish’s regulations, or creating new lakeshore regulations for the two lakes that meet boy city and county approval.

The county implemented interim zoning in the doughnut, but is trying to come up with a long-term solution for the area. Three main options have been presented as possible alternatives.

The first option would leave the area unzoned by letting interim zoning expire.

The second would update the 1996 City-County Master Plan to replace the interim zoning with existing county zoning classifications.

The third option is to update the 1996 Whitefish City County Master Plan based on the 2007 Whitefish Growth Policy.

Interim zoning in the area was adopted by county commissioners in September and will expire at the end of one year. Commissioners may extend the interim zoning for up to one additional year.

The county planning board is set to meet on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. in the Earl Bennett Building in Kalispell.