City closes door on gated communities

Whitefish City Council decided Monday it does not want gated communities within the town, but did not specifically address a request from the Grouse Mountain Estates homeowners association to gate its entrances.

The council unanimously approved a resolution that strengthens the city's policy on gated communities and amends city engineering standards to specifically prohibit gated roads.

“This is a restatement of policy in a way that is enforceable by city staff,” Councilor Andy Feury said. “I think everything this community has done for the last 20 plus years follows this.”

Reconstruction of U.S. 93 in the Grouse Mountain area prompted a request to install gates to keep drivers from cutting through the subdivision. The city permitted temporary gates at Grouse Mountain to be installed during construction.

There is more than one homeowners association in the Grouse Mountain area.

The Grouse Mountain Homeowners Association involves homes along Whitefish Lake Golf Club and is served by Fairway Drive. According to homeowners association president Karl Borchers, that area of the subdivision does not want permanent gates.

While those located at top of the mountain and are served by Mountainside Drive are part of Grouse Mountain Estates, which has requested the permanent gates.

Attorney Sean Frampton, representing Grouse Mountain Estates, said Grouse Mountain Estates previously had two gates in place, but wants to move the location of those gates to close off access to the entire subdivision. Frampton said the city's prohibition of gated communities does not apply to Grouse Mountain Estates because of the subdivision's plat.

“I'm confident with the city's prior certification — the fact that Grouse Mountain Estates is not installing anything more than what it already has — if this thing ends up in a dispute, it would go favorably for Grouse Mountain Estates,” he said. “I'm therefore respectfully asking that this council please discuss how it applies to Grouse Mountain.”

Feury said the policy is not directed at any subdivision specifically.

“I don't care to discuss Grouse Mountain Estates,” he said “I don't see anything of what (Frampton) said tonight is applicable here.”

If there is an issue with moving the gates, Feury said, that can be dealt with by city staff.

Grouse Mountain Estates does have two internal gates within the development that would not be affected by the resolution, City Attorney Mary VanBuskirk noted. However, the city has not allowed the installation of gates to prevent public access at the entrance to the subdivision.

In her staff report to the council, VanBuskirk notes that there are four subdivisions in town with private roadways — Grouse Mountain, Suncrest, Lion Mountain and Iron Horse.

Only Grouse Mountain Estates has private roads that may be closed to vehicle access by the public, based upon a condition of subdivision approval that allows the homeowners association to do so. However, VanBuskirk said city regulations prohibit installing a permanent gate to create that closure, but city engineering standards do allow for other traffic measures such as speed bumps and narrower streets to discourage through traffic.

VanBuskirk noted the exhaustive planning effort to draft the 2007 growth policy that identified residents desire to maintain access to all subdivisions in the city.

“There was strong public sentiment that we should have neighborhoods — that we should have a small town feel,” she said. “This resolution establishes a community policy that there will be no gated communities in Whitefish.”