Board recommends 22-lot Cottonwood subdivision

The Whitefish City Planning Board gave its OK to revised plans for the Cottonwood Estates subdivision on Colorado Avenue after developers addressed previous concerns over groundwater levels and stormwater drainage.

The board on Thursday voted unanimously to recommend approval of the project to City Council after delaying a decision on the request last month amid worries of high groundwater levels in certain areas of the property and inadequate stormwater drainage plans. The 22-lot subdivision would be located on 4.7 acres east of Colorado Avenue and north of Denver Street.

However, the developer’s request to pay cash-in-lieu of parkland instead of providing open space in the subdivision became a major point of contention between the developer and the board.

Charles Lapp, speaking for Cottonwood Estates, pointed to Mountain Trails Park at Stumptown Ice Den as already fulfilling the need for parkland in the area.

“With a playground so close there, is there really a need for another playground just across the street?” Lapp asked.

Lapp said he’s also worried that by being required to build parkland for his subdivision, future neighboring developments will be able to point to his park as a reason to get out of building their own.

“We’re kind of being held hostage to what somebody else might do in the future,” he said. “That’s not good for the long term.”

City Parks and Recreation Director Maria Butts said the benefits of preserving land far outweigh the benefits of receiving cash.

“What won’t last will be the small amount of money that we receive in a parkland application,” she said. “What we do receive when we get land forever is beneficial to our community.”

The property is zoned WR-2, which is used for two-family residential homes. Nine of the lots could accommodate duplex or single family homes and the remaining lots are sized for only detached single family homes.

Original concerns about stormwater drainage were addressed in revised plans that show one lot set aside for drainage in the northeast corner. Stormwater would be conveyed along curbs and gutters instead of swales behind each lot, as was originally proposed, and overflow would be pumped to the existing storm sewer on Colorado Avenue. The pump will require special permission from the public works department.

High levels of groundwater on the southeast corner of the property was another of the board’s original concerns, but planning staff recommended that area be used for parkland rather than as a lot for a home.

City Councilor Richard Hildner, who serves on the planning board, made a motion to require the developer to set aside a space for future recycling facilities, as the current plan has nothing specified for how recyclables would be handled.

“I think it’s important that we begin to do the right thing,” Hildner said. “I keep worrying that I keep finding people making excuses rather than ways to do the right thing.”

The motion failed 4-3 with Allison Linville, John Ellis and Hildner in favor. Rebecca Norton, Jim Laidlaw, Ken Meckel and Steve Qunell voted in opposition.

While the board seemed to agree recycling needed to be addressed, they said it didn’t seem fair to require something from a single developer without a city-wide recycling plan in place.

Lapp said he’s open to suggestions on how to manage recycling on the property, but right now he doesn’t know what such a system would look like.

During public comment, neighbors of the project said they’re concerned about the subdivision spurring future developments of the Colorado Avenue area.

“I’m a little concerned about the density of this project and the precedent it sets for the future development of the adjoining properties,” Kevin Guercio said.

Qunell agreed that it’s going to be hard to see the area transform in the future, but the subdivision isn’t anything out of the ordinary for the neighborhood.

“This doesn’t look drastically different from what’s out there. The density is going to be similar to other projects with our conditions,” Qunell said. “I get that it’s hard to accept change. It doesn’t feel good but it’s something that we have to accept as a city that’s growing. People want to live here, and I think that’s pretty darn good.”

City Council will hold a public hearing on the subdivision at their Dec. 5 meeting at interim City Hall.