93 South land-use meeting slated

Land-use consultant Dave DeGrandpre of Land Solutions Inc. will host a community meeting May 16 to discuss the possibility of developing a corridor land-use plan for properties in the 2-mile Whitefish planning jurisdiction — the “doughnut” area — that includes the U.S. 93 corridor south of Whitefish.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Bohemian Grange Hall on Blanchard Lake Road.

The purpose of the meeting will be to gauge landowner interest and possible support for developing a plan. DeGrandpre will provide information on the status of the Whitefish-Flathead County jurisdictional issue and what the process for developing a plan might entail, as well as options for moving forward.

Representatives of the city of Whitefish and Flathead County have been invited. Refreshments will be served.

The county commissioners recently informed Whitefish the county won’t participate in a corridor study. Even though a lawsuit over planning control of the doughnut area still is unresolved, the Whitefish City Council a month ago decided to ask the county to get involved.

“To wait until after the lawsuit is completed to do a corridor plan will just delay future development,” Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns said in a letter to the county commissioners asking them to get involved.

“We feel that there is renewed interest in developing in this area and we do not feel that proper development should be stymied by the lack of a corridor plan for this area,” Stearns wrote.

Current zoning along the highway corridor is SAG-5 — suburban agriculture with a five-acre minimum lot size — which limits commercial development.