Consultants present Vision Whitefish 2045 land‑use draft; plan aims to guide inward growth and add roughly 2,100 housing units by 2045

Whitefish — Consultants from CZB walked the Planning Commission through the draft land‑use element for Vision Whitefish 2045 at a Feb. 4 work session, saying the document is intended to guide growth inward for the next 20 years and align the city’s zoning code with a character‑based place‑type framework.

"The estimate is about 3,000 to 5,000 people by 2045," Thomas, a CZB consultant, told the commission during a roughly 15‑minute overview. He said the draft plan is intended to accommodate approximately 2,100 new housing units by 2045 and noted that about three‑quarters of those units would be needed for households earning less than 120% of area median income.

The consultant outlined three core goals: focus growth inward, provide a range of housing options and protect community character while supporting environmental stewardship and economic resilience. To achieve those goals CZB recommended a set of actions including a zoning ordinance update to align zoning maps with place types, integrating objective design and development standards into the code (focused on form, placement and landscaping), and refining conditional uses to reduce discretionary approvals.

CZB highlighted a new "heritage downtown" place type intended to capture the smaller multifamily and mixed‑character areas south of downtown and along the river. The firm also recommended maintaining the current geographic footprint for short‑term rentals rather than expanding those zoning allowances, to help preserve opportunities for full‑time residents.

Thomas warned the commission that state law (MLUPA and related legislation noted in the presentation) requires allowing multiple‑unit dwellings and mixed uses in many commercial zones and said the law would permit taller buildings in some downtown commercial zones. "MLUPA is allowing 60‑foot buildings in the downtown," he said, and proposed local form‑based controls — build lines, step‑backs and sub‑districts — as tools to protect scale while complying with state requirements.

The presentation included three internal parcels (A, B and C) that public outreach identified as priority areas to absorb growth and about a dozen additional annexation candidates that the public ranked for future consideration. CZB estimated the internal areas could accommodate a compact mixed‑neighborhood scenario of roughly 2,000 dwelling units; larger annexation scenarios would yield substantially more units depending on assumptions.

The public comment period that followed was lengthy and wide‑ranging, touching on historic preservation, groundwater and wetland constraints, neighborhood character, where commercial designations appear on the future‑use map, and the infrastructure needed to support higher densities. Thomas later corrected a numeric misstatement he had made earlier, clarifying the internal areas’ capacity figures with the commission.

After hearing public testimony, Commissioner speaker 13 moved to postpone the commission’s detailed discussion to the Feb. 11 work session; the motion was seconded and carried. CZB will return on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.; the draft land‑use element is scheduled for public hearings later in February with City Council review to follow in March.