Two major development projects go before planning board

Two separate major proposals for the development of former industrial sites in Whitefish are set to go before the city Planning Board this week.

One residential resort development looks to create 102 dwellings units at a former gravel pit on Wisconsin Avenue. A second project planned at the former Idaho Timber site looks to create a mixed-use development allowing for both residential and some commercial uses.

The Planning Board will hold public hearings on both projects Thursday, Nov. 16. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Will MacDonald, of Wisconsin Development Partners, is proposing to develop about 10 acres off of Wisconsin Avenue at the gravel pit located on the west side of Wisconsin directly across from Alpine Village Market. The area is comprised of vacant land and the parcels for Big Mountain Trailer Court.

The plan calls for 36 apartment condominiums in three 12-plexes on the south third of the property, while the 66 condominium cabins would be located in the center and north end of the project. The property is currently owned by Lenticular Properties of Bristol, Tennessee.

MacDonald is requesting a conditional use permit for the project, which is required because more than one principal use is proposed on each of the lots in the project and the zoning requires a CUP for five-plex of larger buildings.

The property is zoned low density resort residential, which the city zoning code describes as “intended to provide a low density setting for secondary residential resorts.” The 102 units is the maximum density allowed for the property.

Two access sites are proposed — a private access directly off Wisconsin Avenue into the cabin area and a new public right-of-way that would provide access to both the cabins to the north and the apartments to the south. The right-of-way once developed would eventually connect East Marina Crest Lane to the west of the project.

The project calls for one-way streets within in the cabin portion of the development. However, city Senior Planner Wendy Compton-Ring noted in her staff report that the city Fire Marshal and Public Works department both are concerned with the streets being too narrow.

“Both departments would like to see the roads be two-way in order to accommodate emergency vehicles, snow removal, construction equipment and pedestrian and bicycle access,” she said in her memo.

Planing staff is recommending a condition of approval that the streets be designed into two-way streets.

Pedestrian access through the development will not include sidewalks along the streets, but rather will consist of trails throughout the development.

As part of the project, the developer is proposing to construct a SNOW bus stop in front of the apartments to mirror the bus stop on the opposite east side of Wisconsin Avenue in front of the Stumptown Ice Den.

“As part of this improvement and the increase in SNOW bus users, staff anticipates an increase in pedestrian activity requiring improvements to the crosswalk area and the installation of a pedestrian activated light,” Compton-Ring said.

City staff is recommending the developer work with the Montana Department of Transportation and city Public Works to install a pedestrian activated light at the crosswalk. Wisconsin Avenue is a secondary state highway under the authority of the MDT.

Though open space is not a requirement of a CUP, open space areas are located throughout the development and include stormwater facilities and a large looping trail. Planning staff notes that the project is well-suited to take advantage of surrounding recreational amenities including the Wisconsin Avenue trail and nearby city parks.

The plan calls for 84 parking spaces for the apartments and 132 parking spaces for the cabin condos, which meets city standards. In addition, guest parking is provided through pullouts in the development, and parking is provided at a sales office and club house.

Planning staff is recommending approval of the project with 14 conditions.

At the former Idaho Timber site on the north end of Karrow Avenue, Casey Malmquist, with 95 Karrow LLC and owner of the property, is proposing to develop a 22-lot mixed-use site. Malmquist is requesting a preliminary plat and planned unit development overlay for the 14-acre site.

A variety of uses are proposed on the site including residential, professional office, lodging, restaurant, limited retail, light manufacturing, artisan workshop space, studio and gallery space, personal service businesses and other similar uses.

The proposed development would happen in six phases. The first phase is planned to be mainly parking and circulation throughout the site, along with a trail along the Whitefish River and open space. The phase would also include the existing building and one of the mixed-use buildings. Phase 2 calls for more parking, the southwesterly artisan spaces and a microbrewery.

Phase 3 is professional office and condominium spaces. Phase 4 includes a hotel and in Phase 5 is office and condo spaces to the west of the hotel. Phase 6 is a restaurant with private railcar parking and the final mixed-use artisan building.

The site plan calls for 5 acres of open space with urban-type open space with plazas and open space areas along the Whitefish River that includes an extension of the Whitefish River trail. The site plan also calls for a future bridge across the Whitefish River to connect with the BNSF Loop Trail.

“The applicant is not proposing to construct this trail and the city currently does not have plans for the bridge, but it is an idea that could happen at some point in the future, as it would better connect the site to the city’s path system and downtown,” Compton-Ring wrote in her memo on the project.

The project is expected to generate an average of about 5,800 vehicle trips per day at full build-out, according to the developer’s traffic study. Based upon that, the intersection at West Second Street and Karrow Avenue will require the installation of a traffic signal at the time of full build-out.

The developer will need to work with the city and the Montana Department of Transportation for installation of the light, the planning report notes.

City Council last month approved a rezone of the property to industrial transitional district and neighborhood mixed-use transitional. The property is part of the Highway 93 West corridor plan, adopted in 2015, as an opportunity for “community compatible redevelopment.”

Planning staff is recommending approval with 28 conditions.