Building continues at record pace

For the second year in a row, Whitefish tallied a record number of building permits with just under 1,000 total new residential and commercial permits issued last year alone.

In a new high for residential development, a total of 302 new dwellings were permitted, which is 56 more than the 2019 which had previously been the decade’s highest. The 2020 number also surpases 2005’s total of 292.

The city recorded more than $116.5 million in construction-related community investment, according to the City of Whitefish’s Planning and Building Department’s annual report.

A total of 14 new commercial buildings were permitted and when combined with commercial additions and remodels that totaled $36.5 million in estimated project costs last year. Eight new commercial buildings were permitted in 2019.

Building permits in 2020 totaled 993 permits — the highest of the decade.

Planning and Building Director Dave Taylor said while many people relocated last year from large cities to more rural areas because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s uncertain if that truly impacted the construction numbers for Whitefish since many of the projects were already planned prior to the start of the pandemic.

“It was an incredibly busy year for us,” Taylor said. “It seems like supply is really trying to keep up with demand. People want to live here. As more and more people want to live here it may continue.”

Three months into 2021, it remains to be seen how new construction will fare this year. Taylor said he sees a trend all around Montana of people moving here from larger cities to Whitefish and places like Bozeman and Missoula.

“It seems like every year we think it’s going to slow down and then it doesn’t,” Taylor said. “We will just have to see how much COVID has an impact on building and the economy. We know that people are still interested in moving to places with amenities like here. I don’t see it slowing down, but eventually we will run out of land.”

In terms of new construction for residential housing, the city last year issued 92 single family residential permits, which is a drop of just three permits from 2019 that still holds the top spot for the decade at 95 permits. Townhouse permits last year dropped by 10 to 67 permits.

However, multi-family building permits more than doubled from 68 permits in 2019 to 138 issued last year. The multi-family permit total is easily the highest of the last decade with the next closest total of 91 being recorded in 2016.

Taylor said the increase in building permits resulted from projects that had been approved in previous years, but were finally constructed.

“Many of those multi-family projects have been approved in the last few years,” he said. “Even though single-family construction was about the same as the previous year, it’s still a big jump from what we had seen in the past.”

On the commercial side, total permits increased by 10 in 2020 over 2019, but have stayed relatively steady over the last five years. Commercial remodels also increased from 29 to 34 in 2020 over the year prior, but also were relatively steady when compared to the last five years.

In terms of land use planning, total land use permit activity last year was the highest of the decade with 273 total permits versus 252 in 2019.

Three new subdivisions were preliminary approved for a total of 24 lots, which is considerably less than 2018’s number at 278 new lots. The city also approved six final plat applications for 51 new lots in 2020, which is considerably less than 2019’s 233 new lots.

The city for the last two years hasn’t approved a single planned unit development. The last year it approved a PUD was in 2018 and it OK’d nine that year.

Taylor said right now new residential construction is occurring on in-fill properties where the lots and utilities already exist.

Whitefish may be seeing a shift in who is behind future development projects.

For the first time, Taylor says, the planning department has been receiving inquiries from nationwide developers that have never worked in Whitefish before.

“It seems to be a trend that we’re getting more interest from bigger developers,” he said. “We will have to see if that turns into anything. But we’re also going to hit a point where we hit the geographic limits of the city unless the city limits are expanded or the growth policy is changed because it discourages building in certain areas and sprawl.”

Last year the biggest increase in land use permits came in the form of short-term rental permits. There were 160 permits recorded compared to the previous year at 41. This is the most since the city began requiring the permits in 2013.

However, they aren’t all new permits — when ownership changes for a short-term rental a new permit must be obtained. The construction of some new mixed-use buildings in downtown have added to the total number of short-term rentals, Taylor noted.

The city didn’t annex any property in 2020. Over the past decade the city has expanded its boundaries by about 334 acres.

There were 27 lakeshore permits approved, 32 sign permits, 30 architectural reviews completed and 148 code violations resolved.