Zone change OK'd on Whitefish farmland

The Flathead County commissioners last week unanimously approved a zone change to allow smaller lots on 62 acres of farmland east of Whitefish after neighbors fells short in their campaign to stop the proposal.

Evan Shaw asked for a zoning text amendment to shift zoning from SAG-10, suburban agricultural with a 10-acre development minimum, to SAG-5, suburban agricultural with a 5-acre minimum, on his land north of the intersection of Montana 40 and Whitefish Stage Road.

To halt the request, 40 percent of the property owners within the Southeast Rural Whitefish Zoning District would have had to file formal protests.

The neighborhood campaign fell short with protests from 31.9 percent of property owners.

Commissioners Gary Krueger and Phil Mitchell said they both considered the protests in their decision to move forward with the zone change.

“I’m kind of on both sides,” Mitchell said, noting he’d had a few phone calls on the issue.

Mitchell pointed out that Flathead County now has planning oversight over that zoning district, whereas the city of Whitefish had jurisdiction prior to the state Supreme Court ruling that ceded control to the county.

“Now the county is in control. This is not my wish but we are,” Mitchell said. “Now we’re doing what we feel people in the area want.”

Neighbors were worried about the precedent the zone change would set for their rural area, alleging the zone change could open the door to more zone changes and smaller lots that would erode the rural character of the area.

The city of Whitefish and Citizens for a Better Flathead also formally opposed the zone change, contending it is not consistent with the 2007 Whitefish growth policy and land-use map that discourages rezoning areas outside the city until the city meets a 50 percent threshold on its infill policy.