Planning board holds hearings on school expansion, apartment project

The Whitefish Planning Board will hold five public hearings during its Thursday, July 18 meeting.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

- A request by Ian Griffiths for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment at 224 W. Eighth Street.

- A request by Whitefish Christian Academy for a conditional use permit to expand its school facilities at 820 Ashar Ave. The school is requesting to expand the existing school building by about 11,000 square feet.

The expansion would include a two-story classroom, administration, bathroom area and auditorium/cafeteria.

The site plan shows revisions to the access with the northern access of East Eighth Street to the north and the southern access would remain in the same location. A new parking area is proposed to the west side of the building accessing off Eight Street, and an expanding parking to the east of the building off Ashar.

Temporary classrooms added to the site in 2015 would be removed.

Planing staff is recommending approval of the request with nine conditions.

- A request by Theodora and William Walton for a conditional use permit to construct a guest house at 2162 Houston Drive.

- A request by the City of Whitefish for a zoning text amendment to the front yard setback for property development standards of the WB-3, general business district, as part of the downtown master plan implementation.

The proposed amendment is intended to establish a setback on the east side of Lupfer Avenue on Block 37, the south side of East First Street on Block 37 and the north side of East First Street on Block 26.

- A request by 519 Skyles Place for a conditional use permit for a 54-unit apartment project in two buildings at 519 Skyles Place. The property is currently developed with an auto repair business, commercial storage business and three residential homes.

The developer is proposing 24 units in the north building to include 12 studio and 12 one-bedroom units. The south building is proposed to include 30 units made up of six studio, 12 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom.

Access to the site is off Skyles Place at the northwest corner of the lot and parking located at the center of the project. Open space areas would be located around the perimeter of the property.

A traffic study as part of the application shows that the project would generate a total of 395 new weekday trips at full build-out. The study indicates that the project would not create any new roadway capacity problems, but does recommend the developer work with the city to develop a plan to implement a left-hand turn lane on Wisconsin Avenue northbound onto Skyles Place.

Wisconsin Avenue is a state highway which prevents the city from completing projects within the right-of-way for Wisconsin. Planning staff recommends the developer provide just over $11,000 as a cash in lieu fee to assist in funding a future turn lane for the road.

Since it’s expected during busy times traffic will use Iowa Avenue instead of Skyles Place to access the project, the city is requiring the developer to work with the city’s Public Works Department to review uncontrolled intersections on Iowa Avenue to implement a plan for slowing traffic. Staff is recommending approval of the request subject to nine conditions.