Board approves 45-foot height variance for proposed West Yellowstone hotel, denies 9-foot parking stalls

The board of adjustment for the Town of West Yellowstone on Jan. 6 approved a variance to allow a proposed hotel at 105 South Faithful Street to reach 45 feet in height, but it denied the developer's request to reduce standard perpendicular parking stalls from 10 feet to 9 feet.

Planner Scott Hazelton reviewed the two requests and said the applications ask for (1) a building-height variance in the B-4 district and (2) a dimensional parking variance that would permit 9-foot-wide stalls under the town's parking standard. He told the board the new zoning code set a 35-foot height limit townwide and that the applicant's design requires exceeding that limit for a pitched roof.

The applicant, Kevin Perry of High West Development Group, told the board the project would be a 100-room hotel with four employee-housing units and argued the pitched roof is a practical response to West Yellowstone's snow loads and building economics. "This is not the structure type that is most cost effective," Perry said, adding that moving to a flat roof would add "several $100,000" to project costs. He said unique parcel conditions — including 30-foot utility easements on the north and south property lines and an access easement to the south — limit how the site can be laid out and reduce usable parking area.

Perry also said the parcel's constraints left the project three stalls short of the 114 spaces required under the code with 10-foot stalls and that switching to 9-foot stalls would allow the project to provide the employee housing the town needs. "We're very close on parking," he said. "Seeking a dimensional variance of 1 foot per parking stall allows us to build employee housing that's absolutely critical in this town."

Several hotel and lodging industry representatives submitted written or spoken comments. Deputy clerk Liz Ruse read a written submission from Jeff Schoenhard, regional director at the Kelly Inn, who said he had no concerns about the building-height variance but strongly objected to reducing parking space width. In public comment, residents and business owners warned that West Yellowstone's heavy summer traffic and frequent RVs make narrower stalls a safety concern.

Council members debated the variance criteria. Some said the 2024 zoning update had the unintended effect of making many existing three-story, pitched-roof buildings nonconforming and that a modest height variance could permit a design consistent with the town's built character. Others said the applicant should have anticipated parcel limitations during due diligence and warned against granting waivers that past projects had not received.

On the height request, the board voted to approve the variance allowing up to 45 feet. On the parking request, the board voted to deny the 9-foot-stall variance; during deliberations several members said they were sympathetic to employee-housing needs but unwilling to lower the town's stall-width standard in light of safety and precedent concerns. The council discussed alternative compromises the applicant offered, including a hybrid mix of 9-foot and 10-foot stalls to reach the required stall count, but declined the variance as presented.

The board left the record open to the extent required by local procedure and noted the applicant could return with alternate site layouts or a reduced-room program. The board's decision finalizes the variance determinations taken at the Jan. 6 meeting; staff will record the formal decision and notify the applicant of options for redesign or future application.