Board advances environment, natural resources chapter; public raises water-quality, wildfire and parking concerns

The Whitefish Community Development Board reviewed a redline draft of the Vision Whitefish 2045 environment, natural resources and hazards chapter during its Feb. 20 work session and received detailed public comments on water quality, wildfire resilience, setbacks and parking.

Alan Tiefenbach, the planner presenting the chapter, said staff had circulated the draft to technical reviewers — including Whitefish Lake Institute (WLI) and the Department of Environmental Quality — and incorporated most agency suggestions. “We met with WLI personally and talked to them for an hour, and then we wrote this and sent it to them, and they said, this is good,” Tiefenbach said.

During discussion board members asked whether the chapter should include measurable benchmarks for water quality and whether the plan can require enforceable outcomes. Staff and public-works personnel said the growth policy is a policy-level document and not…