Whitefish will get its first formal look at the proposed Block 46 boutique hotel as the Planning Board holds a public hearing Thursday to consider conditional zoning and a planned-unit development overlay for the $11.9 million project.

Property owner Orlan Sorenson of Landmark Construction Management in Whitefish wants to build an 80-room, three-story hotel at the southeast corner of Spokane Avenue and East Second Street on what’s known as Block 46 of the original Whitefish townsite. 

The hotel would include an indoor/outdoor pool on the second floor plus a bar, cafe and retail space along Spokane Avenue that would be offered for lease.

Off-street parking for 72 vehicles would be located behind the hotel at the intersection of Kalispell Avenue and East Third Street. The proposed parking area will need a zone change because it’s in a residential zone that doesn’t permit parking lots. However, through a conditional zoning request, Sorenson can ask for additional uses through a statement of conditions, in this case a parking lot tied to the development of a hotel, according to the planning staff report on the project.

Maintaining the residential zoning and permitting a parking lot with the hotel “seemed to be the best option in limiting the range of potential uses and ensuring the strict adherence to buffering from incompatible uses,” Planner Wendy Compton-Ring wrote in her report.

The planned-unit development requests zoning deviations to building height and sideyard setbacks.

In the business zone where the hotel would be built, the height can exceed the maximum 35 feet up to 45 feet, with accompanying design standards such as a 20-foot setback from rights of way. The portion exceeding 35 feet can’t exceed 120 feet measured horizontally in a diagonal from corner to corner. Portions exceeding the height limit can’t be closer than 30 feet to another structure.

Sorenson proposes to build the entire third floor without the 30-foot separations and 120-foot horizontal measurements. He further is asking for a building setback of 4.5 feet instead of the required 15 feet. The Planning Office is supporting the setback deviation because it’s across the street from a church, a nonresidential use.

The hurdles for Sorenson’s project don’t stop there. 

He also will need two conditional-use permits, one for the bar and lounge planned in the south portion of the building and the other to allow bulk and scale in excess of 7,500 square feet.

Block 46 is a transitional area between the downtown commercial district and east-side residential neighborhoods. The developer proposes to keep eight existing street trees and add other landscaping to create a buffer.

The planning staff has recommended approval of both the planned-unit development and zone change, subject to various conditions.

The Planning Board will forward its recommendations to the City Council, which will hold hearings on the project July 1.

Also on Thursday’s Planning Board agenda are two other public hearings.

The first hearing is a request from Graham Hart for a conditional-use permit to operate Bonsai Brewing, a microbrewery and tasting room at Mountain Mall.

The second hearing is a conditional-use permit request from William Montgomery and Karen Ellingson to operate a four-room bed and breakfast inn at 178 East Blanchard Lake Road.

The board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday at Whitefish City Hall.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.