Year in Review: A recap of Whitefish news in 2022

As we say hello to 2023, the Pilot takes a look back at the news of 2022. While the city struggled with the housing crisis, its citizens continued to band together to support community projects and lend a hand to neighbors in need. The town is peppered with inspirational people and youth who are making strides toward a better future.

Housing

The lack of housing has been an issue in Whitefish for several years. In 2022, the city attacked the problem, in part, by forming a Housing Refresh team which developed a Housing Roadmap. The Housing Roadmap is an update of the Whitefish Strategic Housing Plan that was adopted in 2017.

According to the updated needs assessment, 1,310 new homes are needed in Whitefish by the year 2030 and 75% of them need to be priced below market rate.

The Whitefish Housing Authority is about to hire a director, but in 2022 the nonprofit Housing Whitefish hired an executive director and Shelter WF, another housing organization, hired a part-time coordinator and a lobbyist for the coming year’s legislative session.

A couple wins for housing included relaxed regulations regarding accessory dwelling units (ADU) in Whitefish. Changes included allowing ADUs to be built without a conditional use permit in all zoning districts, increasing the size restriction, and making them able to be built attached, detached, or atop an existing structure. There are now also incentives for homeowners who voluntarily deed restrict their ADUs.

The city donated the snow lot on the corner of Railway Street and Columbia Avenue to the Whitefish Housing Authority in June 2020, specifically to develop affordable housing. In December 2022, the Depot Park Townhomes project was approved by council. The new townhomes will provide 22, two-bedroom units available to households who earn 80 to 150% of the area median income (AMI). AMI is determined annually and for 2022, the AMI in Flathead County for a two-person household is $80,444.

Nearly every business in town, including the local government, is having trouble finding and keeping employees because of the lack of housing. In a town where the median home price in August 2022 was over $1 million, according to 406mls.com, and it only dropped to about $790,000 in November, movement on this problem is imperative.

In early February, the Whitefish Community Foundation was informed of a significant donation from community donors Mark and Robyn Jones who were committing $1 million and agreeing to be the anchor donors for another affordable housing project in Whitefish.

A large-scale residential and commercial development at the base of Big Mountain Road went before the Whitefish City Council on Jan. 18, 2022.

The project, called Mountain Gateway, proposed a 270-unit rental community with 460 parking spaces. On the east side of Big Mountain Road, the project proposed 24 condo units at the north end and 24 townhouse units in the central portion with access off Big Mountain Road.

After hours of public comment, the council postponed a decision before deciding to nix the project by a vote of 5-1 at its regular meeting on Feb. 7, 2022.

Community Giving

Despite the growing number of people experiencing housing insecurity, the people of Whitefish did come together to help various nonprofit organizations cope with increasing demand and inflation.

The North Valley Food Bank saw its highest need and was able to meet it because of community support. Likewise, Toys for Tots was able to provide Christmas toys to a record number of families. They helped over 2300 children, with over 26,000 toys and 8000 books.

Seventy Flathead Valley nonprofit organizations participated in the eighth annual Great Fish Community Challenge hosted by Whitefish Community Foundation from Aug. 4 to Sept. 16. They awarded more than $5 million to the Flathead Valley nonprofit organizations. The total amount awarded included about $4.2 million donated by 2,730 donors during the six-week Great Fish Community Challenge, plus $808,405 from the Great Fish Match Fund.

People rallied to help their neighbors who were dealing with medical issues that oftentimes lead to financial troubles through GoFundMe campaigns and other fundraising events.

The Great Outdoors

Residents showed up on Earth Day for Clean the Fish, an annual event that allows community members to gather every year to clean up debris and trash around Whitefish. Volunteers also woke early and worked in cold November temperatures to decorate the town for the winter season.

Many helped pull noxious weeds during the Weed Rodeo in June and helped the Flathead Rivers Alliance to clean the three forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River while hiking along the shoreline, floating sections or scuba diving.

In September, Whitefish celebrated the completion of the Holbrook Overlook, a spectacular section of the Whitefish Trail located on the Big Mountain Road. In another victory for the Whitefish Trail, the Smith Lake Public Recreation Use Easement (PRUE) took a step forward. The easement puts the goal of closing the loop, making the trail completely circumnavigate Whitefish Lake, within reach.

The new Chair 4, dubbed the Snow Ghost Express, provides direct access to the upper terrain at Whitefish Mountain Resort. The six-pack lift, first of its kind at WMR, takes guests up the mountain quicker — a 7-minute trip that covers over 2,000 vertical feet.

Construction began in the summer of 2021 with groundwork and clearing the lift line. Summer of 2022, a Black Hawk helicopter hauled wet concrete and concrete forms to the top of Inspiration Ridge. The lift began operations on the morning of Dec. 30, 2022, just ahead of the New Year’s holiday weekend.

Whitefish Mountain Resort also celebrates its 75th anniversary this winter season, 2022-23, so cheers to the skiers who started it all, Lloyd ‘Mully’ Muldown, George Prentice, Ed Schneck and Toni Matt, among so many others.

City Developments

The Spokane Avenue Water Main Project was over halfway completed this fall, thanks to favorable weather, and will be finished in the spring of 2023. Work began on the Armory Park Master Plan Phase III, including path and drain improvements and entry landscaping for the Hugh Rogers WAG Park.

Whitefish Public Works Department made progress on the Edgewood Place Project throughout the year. Nearing completion on the second phase which involves the reconstruction of Texas Avenue from Edgewood Place north to Denver Street along the eastern city limits. The project’s many components included a wider road with vertical face curbs, a new stormwater system, lighting, and a bike/walking path.

On Jan. 1, 2022, dispensaries that held established licenses for medical marijuana were allowed to begin sales to all adults in Montana. Eleven properties were given conditional use permits in 2022 to operate marijuana facilities in Whitefish city limits. In 2022, around five opened storefronts.

The City of Whitefish decided to permanently shut down its central recycling site at the end of January 2022. Council decided to begin implementing a mandatory curbside recycling program in the spring of 2022 and do away with the centralized recycling site at the corner of Railway Street and Columbia Avenue.

With bear incidents on the rise, the city decided to implement animal-resistant trash containers for all residents and businesses within city limits — and with that came a bit of a rate hike.

There was some outcry centered on the need to move the individual containers to the street for service rather than have the trash pickup occur in the alleyway. During the June 20 meeting, Whitefish City Council learned that Republic Services is willing to work with the city to continue alley service for some even after the new animal-resistant containers are in use. The rollout of the containers began in the fall and is still ongoing.

Though the city struggled to hire for many positions, it did secure some key staff. Bridger Kelch was officially hired as Whitefish’s new police chief after serving on the force for 21 years as a patrol officer, assistant chief and interim chief of police. Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld said he was impressed with Kelch’s command of the subject matter and with the depth of his professional career. The city also hired a new financial director, Lanie Gospodarek, who brought 20 years of local government experience after moving here from West Yellowstone.

Schools

Recommendations from the district’s 2021 Long Range Facility Plan identified significant growth and critical needs of the high school as the top priority. The 600-student capacity at the high school is nearly met in 2022 with current enrollment at 589.

The plan predicts the high school will likely surpass that capacity mark in just two years.

In a board meeting in mid-April, the Whitefish School Board unanimously approved the selection of the Cushing Terrell architect firm out of Missoula to lead the preliminary design and planning of the high school building expansion and activities facility.

In December, the Whitefish School District presented three concept designs to the community. The plans would add about 35,000 square feet, including 24 new classrooms, labs and shops as well as doubling the Whitefish Independent High School space.

Whitefish School District changed its mask mandate and announced that face coverings are at the discretion of each individual, beginning Jan. 3, 2022. A decline in the number of COVID-19 cases coupled with the availability of the vaccine for younger children spurred the change. The school district continues to follow other COVID-19 mitigation strategies.