Differing views emerge for Hwy 93

Commercial property owners just outside of Whitefish on U.S. Highway 93 South last week asked the city to support a proposed corridor plan for the area they say would give them more future flexibility for their properties.

Sarah Nargi, who owns Whitefish Plastic Surgery, said the current zoning in the area is hampering landowners.

“The landowners there have a problem with the zoning — we have problem growing our businesses or selling the land,” she said. “We want Whitefish to be beautiful. We want a change, but we also want people to agree.”

Steven Gordon said businesses along the corridor now have no incentive to invest in their properties.

“Between the city and county, we’ve been left hanging for 10 years,” he said. “We’re trying to get acknowledgment for what we already have out there.”

Whitefish City Council held a public hearing on a proposed corridor plan and rezone for the 490 acres of land on U.S. Highway 93 South outside of the city limits. A group of landowners in the area have submitted an application for the plan and zoning overlay to Flathead County. The city expects to submit its comments to the county on the proposal.

The plan calls for changing the zoning from agricultural and suburban agricultural zoning to more commercial and business service zoning.

The area is part of the former planning “doughnut” outside of the city limits. A Montana Supreme Court ruling in 2014 ceded planning control of the doughnut from the city to the county following a long-running legal battle over its control.

While a few property owners told City Council the plan would give them the flexibility they need in the future. Some homeowners worried that expanding the commercial sections of the corridor could negatively impact them.

Andrew Eckstrom, who lives in Emerald Heights, said his neighborhood already feels the impact of a fireworks stand that sets up for a month next to his neighborhood near Montana 40.

“The fireworks stand makes a lot of noise — that’s only around the Fourth of July,” he said. “I can only imagine what impact a [full-time] business would have.”

Marilyn Nelson, who said her Blanchard Lake Road property is adjacent to the properties included in the corridor plan, said too large of an expansion of the commercial zoning could impact homeowners.

“I understand along the highway should be business, but there is a questions of the depth of that area,” she said.

Dave DeGrandpre, a land use planner with Land Solutions, LLC, is representing property owners in the corridor. He estimates that there are about 85 land owners along the highway in the plan area that runs about 1.5 miles along Highway 93 south of the Montana 40 intersection.

The county Planning Board will consider the plan at its January meeting.

The plan calls for a special overlay zone with strict development standards that appear to be consistent with Whitefish zoning standards for landscaping, buffers, site plan requirements, architectural design, sign standards, parking, and dark skies lighting.

The plan also calls for changing the zoning on most properties in the corridor and then the zoning overlay would place specific standards on the properties. What is currently zoned AG-20 would become SAG-5, and what is SAG-5 would for the most part become business service district, which is similar to the Whitefish business service district zoning that the county recently adopted to match similar city zoning.

Some told the city they have concerns about the potential for increasing commercial development in the area along Highway 93 South.

“The gateways to Kalispell are nothing but an eyesore,” Leo Keane said. “That’s not what we want the gateway to Whitefish to become.”

Chris Schustrom asked Council to take a broader view of the plan.

“Expansion of retail and commercial development south of Highway 40 will undermine the economic gains we have made in the 30 years,” he said.

Rhonda Fitzgerald said the plan will open the corridor up for commercial leap frogging as businesses move farther from downtown looking for less expensive property.

“The further south we will go with the cancer the more problem we will have,” she said. “It would be tragic to sprawl all the way to Kalispell.”

Council outlined a few concerns it has with the plan. Those included the width of the proposed commercial area along the highway impacting adjacent homeowners, the expansion of commercial services along the corridor, the potential economic impact to Whitefish business, and the potential that increased development in the corridor could create transportation issues.

Councilor Jen Frandsen pointed to the city’s recently released affordable housing study that shows more than half of workers in Whitefish commute into town for their jobs.

“It’s important to consider the traffic impacts this could have and how those commuters could be impacted,” Frandsen said. “The owners want to develop property along the corridor, but it’s important to consider how this impacts Whitefish.”

Councilor Andy Feury said he is worried about the impact to businesses if the corridor increases in commercial property.

“It’s not just changing the zoning in this one area — this has impacts for the whole county,” he said.

Mayor John Muhlfeld said he would like to see the city and county work together on the proposed corridor plan.

“We would like to sit down to come up with a solution that meets our needs, the county needs and the landowners needs,” he said.