Whitefish council denies Taylor Hill PUD after hourslong hearing

The Whitefish City Council voted 4–1 on Oct. 20 to deny Ordinance 25‑13, a planned unit development that would have placed 24 townhome units in seven buildings and retained one existing house on about 2.85 acres at Baker and West 10th Avenue.

Councilors and dozens of members of the public spent more than two hours debating the project’s design and requested zoning deviations. Councilor Rebecca, who moved to deny the ordinance, said the proposal failed to meet the city’s growth‑policy criteria for preserving neighborhood character. “I personally feel like it's irresponsible to take away the livability and privacy of people that have been here for decades,” she said during deliberations.

Wendy, a city planning staffer, summarized the application as an eight‑lot subdivision with 24 townhome sublots, a 20‑foot internal loop road, and six requested deviations from WR‑2 standards. Staff noted the project’s density at about 8.8 dwelling units per acre, projected traffic of 198 vehicle trips at full build‑out and that the developer proposed a fee‑in‑lieu to meet the Legacy Homes affordable‑housing requirement (10% = 2.4 units). Staff…