Council approves PUD amendment allowing up to 150 units at Caro Yards with 10% affordability condition

The Whitefish City Council on July 28 approved Ordinance 25-8, a planned-unit development (PUD) amendment that lets the former Idaho Timber site at 95 Caro Avenue (branded by the applicant as Caro Yards) increase residential density up to 150 units, apply the WT-3 mixed-use building-height standard across the project, and allow Lot 3 to exceed a 3,500-square-foot building footprint. The council tied the density bonus to a requirement that 10% of units be deed-restricted through the city's Legacy Homes program or a comparable housing mitigation plan.

The amendment matters because it changes the previously approved mix of uses for a 14-acre project that had long been proposed as a mixed-use neighborhood with offices, a hotel, marketplace and limited commercial uses. Planning staff and the applicant told council the site has sat largely dormant for two years; the proposed changes prioritize a larger residential component to make the project financially viable while preserving public-access amenities along the Whitefish River.

Planning Director Dave (last name not specified in the packet) summarized the PUD's history and the current amendment. He said the project began with a 2018 preliminary plat and a PUD overlay allowing mixed uses and flexible development standards; subsequent amendments added and removed live-work units, changed lot coverage and altered setbacks. The new amendment would increase the maximum approved residential units from 97 (84 residential units plus…