The newly organized Whitefish Interim Planning Board will hold its first meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Whitefish City Hall.

The former Whitefish City-County Planning Board was disbanded after the Montana Supreme Court handed planning control to Flathead County in July.

Most of the members of the interim board, however, were on the joint city-county board. They include Greg Gunderson, Ken Meckel, Scott Wurster and Ken Stein.

John Ellis, who previously represented the Flathead Conservation District on the joint board, will serve on the interim board as a city resident.

State law requires a Whitefish City Council member to serve, and Frank Sweeney will fill that spot.

The law also requires a county appointee, and Jim Laidlaw, a previous board member, will represent the county. He was appointed by the county commissioners.

The interim board will select a chairman and vice chairman before holding two public hearings.

The first hearing is a conditional-use permit request from Jennifer Howell to construct an accessory apartment above a proposed garage at 444 Columbia Ave.

A second hearing involves a proposal by Four Fools LLC and Richard and Carol Atkinson to amend the Whitefish growth policy from high-density residential to neighborhood commercial zoning, and from low-density residential to limited business district zoning for property at 510, 540 and 550 Wisconsin Ave.