Planning board has full agenda for Thursday

A public hearing on a 70-acre neighborhood plan in the south section of Whitefish is scheduled before the Whitefish Planning Board Thursday.

Whitefish 57 LLC, Eagle Enterprises and Marie Hedman have submitted a request to the city for a neighborhood plan for the properties. The neighborhood plan looks to change the existing suburban and rural growth policy designations to urban and multi-family designations, along with about 25 acres of the plan area being designated for open space. If approved the plan would become an amendment to the city’s growth policy.

The proposed neighborhood plan looks to break the property into seven different sections with commercial and residential designations including single-family and multi-family residences. As part of the plan, the applicants note that they are committing to 10 percent of the project becoming affordable housing.

The Planning Board first looked at the plan at its February meeting, but follow extensive public comment decided to continue the matter to its March meeting.

Neighbors of the area who have organized under the South Whitefish Neighborhood Association have raised a number of objections to the plan claiming that it doesn’t match the city’s growth policy and noting potential development that could result because of the plan would have grave impacts to a wetland on the tract of land, be an end of the wildlife corridor and detrimental to the folks who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the area.

Planning staff is recommending approval of the plan.

Also on the planning board agenda are five other public hearings:

- A request by Robert Marney for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment on Columbia Avenue.

- A request by Judah Gersh to amend city code to add a parking standard for studio and one-bedroom apartments under the multi-family dwelling parking standards.

- A request by Todd and Lindsey Burris for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment on East Second Street.

- A request by Moose Run Properties to rezone a roughly 1 acre parcel from both general business district and one-family residential to two-family residential.

- A request from the city to rezone the 1.64-acres snow lot from industrial and warehousing to high density multi-family residential. The board will also consider a request from the city to modify the urban renewal district ti include the lot as a blighted area in need of redevelopment and appropriate for an urban renewal project.

The Whitefish Planning Board meets March 15 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.