Application for proposed neighborhood plan along Highway 93 pulled

Developers looking to create a neighborhood plan for 70 acres fronting Highway 93 South have pulled their application with the city.

Whitefish 57 and Eagle Enterprises have asked that their request for the plan be removed from the April 16 Whitefish City Council agenda. The Whitefish Planning Board last month voted unanimously to recommend denial of the plan saying it did not have a clear community benefit.

In a March 20 letter to the city, land planner Eric Mulcahy, with Sands Surveying, said his clients are withdrawing their application to work on a list of items to produce a plan that “works for both the city and the applicants.”

“We want to take a step back in order to consider the concerns raised by the Whitefish Planning Board members,” Mulcahy said in his letter.

Mulcahy said his clients expect to amend their plan and take it back before the Planning Board for further consideration.

Mulcahy did not return a call for comment.

Whitefish 57 LLC, Eagle Enterprises and Marie Hedman previously submitted a request to the city for a subarea or neighborhood plan for the properties that front Highway 93 South between Park Knoll Lane and JP Road. The original plan looked to change the existing suburban and rural growth policy designations to urban and multi-family designations making way for commercial and residential zoning designations for the property, including single-family and multi-family residences. The plan also called for about 25 acres of the area being designated for open space.

During two public hearings before the planning board, the plan didn’t sit well with neighbors of the properties who raised a number of objections to the plan including that potential development could result in grave impacts to a wetland on the tract of land and that it was detrimental to folks who live in the area.

A sub area or neighborhood plan if approved are an amendment to the growth policy.