A request to build 66 more dwelling units in the Montana housing development in Whitefish goes before the Whitefish City Council tonight for a public hearing.

Whitefish Partners 1 LLC is asking for a conditional-use permit to build 54 units in Phase II, south of the existing Monterra housing, and 12 units to build out Phase 1.

Monterra is located at the northeast corner of Montana 40 and River Lakes Parkway. Phase 2 will be bordered on the south by Montana 40, on the west by River Lakes Parkway and on the east by Kallner Lane.

The project is part of Riverside at Whitefish, a 230-acre development plan that was conceived as a neighborhood plan and included in the Whitefish City-County Master Plan in 1993.

The project languished until 1999 when a planned-unit development designated specific projects that included the youth sports complex, assisted-living center and park area, traditional homesites along the Whitefish River, some “neo-traditional housing” and an economic development area, according to the Whitefish Planning Office staff report.

The Whitefish Planning Board last month recommended approval of the additional housing units at Monterra. There was some opposition from Monterra residents, particularly with the developer’s plan to remove an existing tennis court and replace it with a new building. Space is being reserved in Phase II for the relocation of the tennis court.

Residents also had concerns about the overall congestion the additional housing would create.

Two other public hearings are scheduled tonight. One involves the rezoning of 3.6 acres adjacent to Reservoir Road and Wheeler Lane, from county to city low-density resort-residential zoning.

The other hearing deals with rezoning roughly 10 acres at 325 Monegan Road from county suburban agriculture to a Whitefish agricultural zoning designation.

The meeting begins at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.

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