Commercial project on Hwy 93 gets OK

A five-lot subdivision has been approved on U.S. Highway 93 South on property just north of the First Baptist Church.

City Council last week on a 5-1 vote approved a preliminary plat request by Whitefish Housing Group, LLC for the minor subdivision on 6.3 acres. The project contains four commercial lots with three along the highway and one south of Park Knoll Lane, and one residential lot along the western edge of the property.

Councilor Richard Hildner was the sole vote against the request. He said looking at the developer’s application it was pretty clear to him that the plan is to construct a hotel on one of the commercial sites.

“No one has come to me in the last four years and said we need another hotel,” he said. “This is really concerning to me that we’re going to approve something that’s going to create another hotel here in Whitefish.”

Councilor Katie Williams, however, pointed out that the request was for a subdivision, so specific uses of the project couldn’t be a factor in the decision.

“We’re voting on a preliminary plat for the subdivision,” she said. “If we get a conditional use permit for this then we can decide on usage.”

TDH Engineer Doug Peppmeier told Council that no specific uses have been determined for the property at this time and that developer is looking to create lots but how those will be used is not determined.

“At this point there is no guarantee,” he said. “It’s creating developable lots.”

Mayor John Muhlfeld said based upon the site plans for the subdivision it appears as though one lot is being designed for a hotel at about 13,000 square feet in size.

He suggested Council should take a look at updating its zoning regulations that currently only require buildings over 15,000 square feet to be reviewed though the conditional use permit process, lowering the threshold to 10,000 square feet.

The subdivision is zoned WB-2 secondary business on the eastern 3.86 acres and country residential on the western 2.5 acres.

The current access off Highway 93 for the First Baptist Church will be eliminated and a new access further to the north will be created. An east-west private road is planned to serve the lots and a frontage road will provide access to the church to the south of the subdivision.

A private street to include sidewalks, boulevards, street trees and decorative lighting will also be constructed to serve the lots in the subdivision. The street could also someday connect with an extension of Baker Avenue as called for in the city’s transportation plan.

The property last year was part of a much larger project that was submitted to the city for a subarea plan. That project included 70 acres surrounding the church property and looked to develop both commercial and residential uses on the property.

That project proposed by Whitefish 57 LLC and Eagle Enterprises drew strong criticism from surrounding neighborhoods for its potential impact to the area, and Council voted to deny the plan in August 2018.