Fight For the Fish! Saving Whitefish, Montana

The City of Whitefish Growth Policy is our best—and last opportunity to have a say in what our community will look and feel like in the future. The Growth Policy is a much bigger deal than many realize. Once it's finalized, the public will no longer have a say in planning and zoning. Senate Bill 382 plays a role in the Growth Policy. One of the more disturbing aspects of SB 382 is the fifteen strategies outlined to encourage new housing. According to SB 382, the zoning regulations authorized must include a minimum of five of the following housing strategies, applicable to the majority of the area, where residential development is permitted in the jurisdictional area:

(a) allow, as a permitted use, for at least a duplex where a single-unit dwelling is permitted;

(b) zone for higher-density housing near transit stations, places of employment, higher education facilities, and other appropriate population centers, as determined by the local government;

(c) eliminate or reduce off-street parking requirements to require no more than one parking space per dwelling unit;

(d) eliminate impact fees for accessory dwelling units or developments that include multi-unit dwellings or reduce the fees by at least 25%;

(e) allow, as a permitted use, for at least one internal or detached accessory dwelling unit on a lot with a single-unit dwelling occupied as a primary residence;

(f) allow for single-room occupancy developments;

(g) allow, as a permitted use, a triplex or fourplex where a single-unit dwelling is permitted;

(h) eliminate minimum lot sizes or reduce the existing minimum lot size required by at least 25%;

(i) eliminate aesthetic, material, shape, bulk, size, floor area, and other massing requirements for multi-unit dwellings or mixed-use developments or remove at least half of those requirements;

(j) provide for zoning that specifically allows or encourages the development of tiny houses, as defined in Appendix Q of the International Residential Code as it was printed on January 1, 2023;

(k) eliminate setback requirements or reduce existing setback requirements by at least 25%;

(l) increase building height limits for dwelling units by at least 25%;

(m) allow multi-unit dwellings or mixed-use development as a permitted use on all lots where office, retail, or commercial are primary permitted uses; or

(n) allow multi-unit dwellings as a permitted use on all lots where triplexes or fourplexes are permitted uses

We're asking our entire community of Whitefish to get involved in the Growth Policy process, to ensure we have a say in what Whitefish looks and feels like ten and twenty years from now.