Whitefish City Council last week approved a 52-unit development off Highway 93 West.

The subdivision has been in the works since 2007, with the most recent approved plans coming in 2010. The property is across the highway from the Whitefish Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Council approved a planned unit development and preliminary plat for 26-lot project that is proposed to contain 22 single-family lots, four development pods for 30 condominium units and one five-acre lot reserved for future development. The property is about 23 acres in size.

Mayor John Muhlfeld praised the project noting he was on Council when it was approved the first two times. He noted that it was one of the first projects that honored the city’s critical areas ordinance which creates regulations aimed at protecting water quality.

“It was great at the time then and that remains the case,” he said.

The developer, 93 LLC, plans for the subdivision to have two accesses off Highway 93 that will be connected within the project by a privately owned and maintained loop road.

The site currently is mostly undeveloped, with four single-family homes to be removed as part of the development.

The project features 5 acres in open space, split into several small blocks along with a larger area that bisects the neighborhood and houses many of the site’s environmentally sensitive areas, including steep slopes, wetlands and drainage ways. The development would utilize city services, including water and sewer.