Whitefish planning board members and staff on Aug. 27 revised wording in the growth‑policy hazards chapter to emphasize local wildfire risk, push for a modern Community Wildfire Protection Plan and add new objectives that encourage ongoing vegetation management through subdivision covenants and homeowners associations. At the meeting, participants also discussed limits the city faces under state law and how water‑system upgrades factor into fire response.

The changes follow detailed public and board comments about how past fire‑suppression policy has affected fuels. “Fire suppression has led to an unnatural accumulation of woody biomass,” said resident Richard Hillerne (4 Fifth Street) during public comment, urging the draft text be revised to reflect that dynamic. Planning staff accepted that edit and the sentence was changed in the draft.

The moves matter because the board also agreed to insert a clear statement that the city’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), last adopted in February 2009, is currently out of date. Alan (staff member) told the board that the city and state are coordinating on a new CWPP and that the draft should flag the need for an updated assessment: “Prioritize completion of an updated wildfire risk assessment in coordination with DNRC,” the board added as an objective.

Why this matters: the board repeatedly linked fire risk to development and long‑term maintenance. Participants noted the city is entirely inside the wildland‑urban interface and that models identify Whitefish among the U.S. communities at highest wildfire risk. The draft now urges education, vegetation management and subdivision‑level requirements so that mitigation steps taken at plat approval do not lapse after final plat.

What the board added and approved
- Requirement objective for subdivisions: the board added language recommending consideration of changes to subdivision regulations so that new homeowners associations (HOAs) adopt CC&Rs requiring ongoing vegetation management and defensible‑space maintenance as a condition of final plat approval. Board members voted to include an objective directing staff to “consider additional changes to subdivision regulations and WUI subdivision standards to include requirements for new subdivision homeowners associations to maintain fire‑wise practices in their CC&Rs.”
- Firewise/Fire‑adapted language: members clarified that “Firewise” is a trademarked program and adjusted the text to explain that individual neighborhoods (minimum 8 dwellings, maximum about 2,500 dwellings per the Firewise program) can seek Firewise designation while the whole city would not qualify as a single Firewise community.

Limits and legal context: staff repeatedly noted state preemption limits the city’s authority once construction is complete. “We can only apply building‑code standards at time of permit,” Alan said, adding that state law prevents the city from enforcing building‑code maintenance (for example, obligating property owners to keep defensible space after a permit is issued). The draft therefore recommends working with state agencies and promoting homeowner education, and it identifies the city’s ability to use plat notes and HOA covenants as practical tools to preserve mitigation measures beyond initial construction.

Water system and fire flow: board members pressed the water‑pressure issue. Alan said the city is updating its water master plan and that improvements — three pump‑station upgrades, a southern water tower and a storage tank rehab — are expected to resolve known fire‑flow shortfalls in priority areas once those capital projects are complete. The draft now notes areas of insufficient water pressure and links capital improvements in the water master plan to improved fire flows.

What was discussed but not adopted as a requirement: members debated whether to remove single‑family exemptions from landscape regulations (which state law and building‑code preemption complicate). The board agreed it can recommend lobbying the state to change preemption rules, and it directed staff to include a recommendation that the city continue to pursue state and interagency solutions.

Ending note: the board approved the hazards chapter as amended at the Aug. 27 meeting and instructed staff to incorporate the new language into the public draft. The plan now emphasizes updated CWPP work, more explicit subdivision‑level expectations for post‑plat maintenance (including encouraging HOAs to adopt fire‑wise CC&Rs) and coordination of water‑system capital projects that affect fire response.