Concerns with proposed affordable housing project
For the record, the property owners of Rivers Edge at Whitefish would very much like to be in a position to support the affordable housing project being proposed for property along Highway 93, north of Les Schwab. We recognize workforce housing is a high priority for the City of Whitefish as was communicated so effectively at the Affordable Housing Summit in late September.
However, we feel strongly that affordable housing should be compatible with and complement its host neighborhood, rather than a detriment to neighboring homeowners due to poor site design and overcrowding. The latter occurs often as a result of the developer’s desire to maximize monetary return.
I am a resident of Rivers Edge at Whitefish, a 48 lot patio/river home community located along the Whitefish River, adjacent to the site of the proposed housing project. It was the initial expectation of Rivers Edge homeowners that the affordable housing project would be built on the approximately 3.5 acres of commercially zoned property at the west end of a 9.5 acre tract. Perhaps we got this idea because the current zoning for the front third, which lies adjacent to Highway 93, allows for multi-family housing and with an affordable housing density bonus, at least 45/50 units would be permitted.
Knowing Whitefish’s need for affordable housing, at that point most Rivers Edge homeowners supported the plan. This location, by virtue of being commercially zoned, affords developers a great deal of flexibility and more than adequate density to produce quality workforce housing with NO adverse impact to our neighborhood.
Behind the 3.5 acres of commercially zoned land, comprising the balance of the 9.5 acre lot, are approximately 6 acres zoned for single family homes. We now know that the developer’s intention is for the workforce housing project to extend beyond the commercially zoned portion of the site into this area zoned for single family homes. By so doing, the affordable housing project would occupy about half of the 9.5 acre lot rather than the third which is consistent with current zoning.
In our opinion, this practice is currently not legal in Whitefish. We believe the city’s planning director, will in all likelihood, be proposing at the Planning Board meeting (on Dec. 17 at 6 p.m.) to change Whitefish’s zoning regulations to allow for blending of densities and uses on properties having more than one zoning district. If this change is adopted, the zoning next to your neighborhood or business could be easily changed as well.
In the case of Rivers Edge, the impact is to effectively rezone the adjacent property currently zoned for single family housing, so that the remaining 6 acres can be used for higher density apartments and other multi-family units.
Obviously a high density, multi-family configuration next door is very different from what Rivers Edge homeowners had expected given the single-family zoning designation, WR-1, on these 6 acres. As you might imagine, when many of us were considering the purchase of our lots, one of the first questions asked was with regard to the zoning status of the lovely green space next door. Each of us at different times was assured that the 6 acres, east of the commercial lot were zoned for single family homes.
Whitefish has always struck me as a town that is highly respectful of its homeowners’ interests. Whether in terms of extending the pedestrian/bike path along the Whitefish River or lengthening streets as anticipated in Whitefish’s transportation plan, the city has generally chosen not to move forward until permission is granted from property owners whose land would be crossed, or development is proposed for the land parcel.
Nevertheless, in this current case, the city is being asked to, in effect, re-zone 6 acres of non-commercial property from the current single-family designation to achieve significantly higher density and enable the investor to optimize his financial return. This despite, its negatively impacting, both the quality of life and home values of neighboring homeowners by virtue of over-crowding, noise, and the general bulk and scale of multi-family structures.
Accordingly, we at Rivers Edge are hopeful that when the city reviews the current proposal, it will do so in a manner that will be respectful of the interests of neighboring homeowners as it has in so many other cases, by assuring the integrity of current zoning and insisting that the multi-family units in the housing project be focused exclusively on the commercially zoned segment of this property. At that point, we too will be able to enthusiastically support Whitefish’s plan for affordable housing and we will have a win-win for the community and the neighborhood!
— Barbara Morris, Whitefish