County sets path for doughnut planning

Acknowledging there is still much work to be done before it’s finalized, the Flathead County commissioners on Feb. 2 accepted the Planning Board’s recommendations for proceeding with planning and zoning in the “doughnut” area around Whitefish.

Those recommendations include repealing the 1996 Whitefish City-County master plan and replacing it with county-initiated zoning once the interim zoning expires in the doughnut area. For land-use decisions, the county will rely on the county growth policy, not the Whitefish growth policy as initially recommended by the Planning Board.

Now that a clear plan has emerged for the county taking planning control of the doughnut area — as mandated by a Montana Supreme Court ruling last year — the process involves approving text amendments for both the planning and zoning of the doughnut and lakeshore regulations.

Public hearings will be part of the process.

Last month the commissioners unanimously voted to amend the county lakeshore protection regulations to include Whitefish and Lost Coon lakes.

Those two lakes were under the city of Whitefish’s planning jurisdiction but now move to county oversight.

The commissioners also agreed that the county’s lakeshore regulations need an update and that the Planning Board should prioritize that review when it puts together its annual work plan for the year.

As part of the process of folding Whitefish and Lost Coon lake oversight into county lakeshore regulations, the county’s Whitefish-specific lakeshore regulations — used prior to the interlocal city-county planning agreement made in 2005 — will be rescinded.

Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Phil Mitchell thanked the Planning Board and Planning Office for the work that has gone into the transition from city to county jurisdiction. Commissioner Gary Krueger was absent Monday.

“We’re just getting started,” Holmquist said. “There’s still a lot of work ahead.”

During the commissioners’ public comment session, Rebecca Norton of Whitefish asked the commissioners to instruct county Planning Director BJ Grieve to pass on all information related to the doughnut area within 24 hours of receipt to the Planning Board. After requesting records and video recordings of past meetings, she maintained that on several occasions the board got important information at the last minute.

Getting public comments in a more expedient manner would allow Planning Board members the time to study the material and do “due diligence” before meetings.

The commissioners did not act on Norton’s request.

Grieve said it is the Planning Office’s policy to include public comments in packets given to Planning Board members two weeks prior to a meeting. Any comments received after that point are distributed to the board at the meeting.

Grieve has stated on several occasions he is making every effort to facilitate a transparent transition process.