Several residents urged the Whitefish City Council on Nov. 17 to push for stronger enforcement of lakeshore protections on Whitefish Lake and to restore clearer public-participation procedures for the city’s growth policy update. The comments came during the communications-from-the-public portion of the council’s meeting.

Cameron Dexter, who identified himself as affiliated with Citizens for a Better Flathead, said the city lacks jurisdiction over enforcement outside city limits but should continue to "signal support for proper enforcement" by county and state agencies and stay informed about complaints. "We are concerned that Flathead County's failures to enforce the Flathead County LLPRs, including their pattern and practices of issuing after-the-fact permits when violations occur, conducting inadequate investigations, and failing to require full restoration when the damage is done, must be called out," Dexter said, and he submitted two draft letters and the first pages of an administrative appeal file related to alleged violations abutting a property at 776 Elm Beach Lane.

Keegan Siebenaler, executive director of ShelterWF, focused on the growth policy’s transportation element and the role of mixed-use planning in supporting multimodal streets. "If we want Whitefish to be a multimodal community... you need to couple it with mixed use zoning," Siebenaler said, and warned he would register "strong objections" with the council if the planning commission removes mixed-use references at upcoming hearings.

Mary Flowers of Citizens for a Better Flathead supplemented written comments previously filed with the planning commission and said the city’s public-participation procedures for the growth policy update are "not in alignment with the Montana land use act," citing "MCA 76-25-201" in her remarks. Flowers urged the city manager to direct planning staff to revert to a more supportive role and for the planning commission to hold its determinate role over public notice and comment. She asked that the group’s submitted comments be posted on the Engaged Whitefish site and said CBF would provide a set of concrete recommendations during a scheduled meeting with the city manager.

Councilors and staff acknowledged jurisdictional limits for lakeshore enforcement and did not take formal action on the written materials during the meeting. City staff said the county is holding a tentatively scheduled planning board workshop in January to consider amendments to county LLPRs and marina standards; Dexter encouraged residents to attend that county workshop. City staff and councilors also discussed next steps on the growth policy update timeline and said staff would consider the public comments when drafting future materials.

The council’s next meeting agenda includes further work on the growth policy and a scheduled presentation by Habitat for Humanity; no formal votes arose from the public comments presented at this session.