The developer of the Firebrand Hotel in Whitefish is trying for a third time to get permission for a rooftop hot tub at the downtown hotel.

Whitefish Hotel Group, which developed the $10 million, 86-room upscale lodging facility, is asking the Whitefish Planning Board to consider amending a condition of the hotel’s conditional-use permit to install a hot tub on the Firebrand roof. A public hearing is planned for Nov. 7.

The hotel is owned by Averill Hospitality, which also operates The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.

The hot tub saga began in February when the City Council approved a conditional-use permit for the hotel, but stipulated nothing other than a patio could be built on the roof. A rooftop bar also was rejected.

At the time, neighbors already were voicing concerns about what might be featured on the roof, since the hotel juts into a residential neighborhood on Second Street.

Initial plans included space for a pool and a hot tub in the hotel basement, but at some point the developer made the decision to scrap the pool and relocate the hot tub to the roof. A laundry facility, storage and conference room were placed in the basement instead.

Planning Director Dave Taylor said his department became aware of the change in January when plumbing alterations were being made to accommodate a rooftop hot tub.

“We told [Whitefish Hotel Group] the hot tub would be prohibited,” Taylor told the Board of Adjustment at its hearing in May. “We had meetings and talked about it.”

Taylor, the city’s zoning administrator, earlier had denied the hot tub relocation and sent an email to the city’s chief building official stating the hot tub wouldn’t be allowed on the roof.

Whitefish Hotel Group then appealed Taylor’s decision to the Board of Adjustment, maintaining a hot tub is a common amenity of a patio, and that city zoning laws do not define patio per se.

Whitefish attorney Judah Gersh, representing the hotel group, told the Board of Adjustment at its May hearing that the developer was “blindsided” by the zoning administrator’s decision. Appealing the decision to the Board of Adjustment was the quickest and least expensive option, Gersh told the board, adding that a new application would be not only expensive but also time-consuming.

He pointed out the Downtowner Hotel nearby has outdoor hot tubs; so does The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. There are no issues with noise, he further told the board, because it’s important for hotel owners to keep it quiet for other guests.

Not having a hot tub all together “would be a serious hardship on the hotel,” Gersh said, noting that installing one at ground level outdoors would be worse for the neighbors.

The rooftop hot tub was proposed with a 5-foot glass wall on two sides to shield the hot tub from wind. Other screening for noise and privacy also were proposed. Although the hotel proposed to close the hot tub at 10 p.m., neighbors nevertheless had concerns about the potential for noise and neighborhood intrusion.

The Board of Adjustment upheld the zoning administrator’s decision.