Planning board looks at CUP for new restaurant

The Whitefish Planning Board on Thursday will consider a request to operate a small restaurant out of an under construction building on Lupfer Avenue.

The restaurant — Cru — is expected to include a beer and wine license and operate on the first floor of the new building that was previously approved by the city.

Emily Rindal of Liquid Library of Seeley Lake is listed as the applicant for the request. The restaurant would enhance the shopping loop in downtown Whitefish, the application notes, and Cru would be “another place for tourists and locals alike to enjoy food, beer and wine together which is a benefit to the tourist industry.”

The planning board meets at 6 p.m. remotely through Webex.

The restaurant is seeking a conditional use permit to operate. While restaurants are a permitted use in the WB-3 zone, those that contain a bar or lounge are required to obtain a CUP under city zoning regulations.

The restaurant is planned to include a small kitchen and operate between the hours of 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. It’s expected to employ two full-time and two part-time employees, according to the planning staff report.

The proposed use for the building has “effectively dealt with the site design issues because the business is located in a new building” that provides the required amount of parking spaces, traffic circulation and must comply with landscaping requirements, the staff report notes.

The planning department is recommending approval of the conditional use permit with four conditions. One of the conditions says that any audio speakers for music in any outdoor dining area must be directed away from the public sidewalk and streets, and set out a loudness level allowing only an insignificant volume to spill onto public sidewalks and streets.

Also on the planning board agenda, is a request from Curtis and Christine Feeny for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment above an existing garage at 1656 W, Lakeshore Drive.

Those wishing to provide written comments for the meeting can deliver comments by noon on Jan. 21 to City Hall or email comments to dtaylor@cityofwhitefish.org.

For more information on how to participate in the planning board meeting remotely through Webex, visit the city’s website at https://www.cityofwhitefish.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=385