‘Vision Whitefish 2045’ draws hours of public comment as commission presses staff for clearer maps and place-type edits

Whitefish planners presented a draft Vision Whitefish 2045 community plan on Feb. 19 and opened a lengthy public hearing that highlighted sharp differences over housing, density and how the city should direct growth.

Alan Tiefenthaler, the city planner leading the project, described the plan as a two-part document: a concise community plan with goals and objectives and an extensive resource document that provides background data and technical appendices. Tiefenthaler emphasized the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA) requirements that shaped the draft and summarized staff’s approach to population and housing projections: a roughly 3,000–5,000 additional residents over 20 years and an estimated need of about 2,071 housing units by 2045 based on state and consultant analyses (Alan Tiefenthaler). He told the commission the plan intentionally presents “place types” (form‑based descriptions) rather than a purely use‑based future land‑use map.

The meeting became a forum for contrasting views. Many residents and organizations urged the commission to plan for more housing within a walkable radius of downtown and to restore mixed‑use language the staff said some redlines had removed. Leonette Galaz, a…