The Whitefish City Council on Oct. 17 unanimously approved a 29-lot subdivision on a lot to the east of Big Mountain Thrift on U.S. Highway 93.

Since no requests were made for subdivision variances, this project was eligible for expedited review.

The parcel, owned by Tracy Poole of True North Partners, LLC, is set to be bisected by a new public right-of-way connecting Shiloh Avenue and Whitefish, which will be built by the developer.

On the west side of the planned roadway, which is zoned secondary business, five commercial lots are proposed, ranging from about half an acre to a little over 1 acre. The east side, zoned for two-family residential, is planned to contain 48 townhouses on 24 lots.

The residential area features a looped, public right-of-way connecting Shiloh/Whitefish Avenue to Lenna Joy Drive. Lots will access either the new loop road or the existing Lenna Joy Drive.

The development is known as Snowy Mountain.

“The applicant did conduct a traffic impact study,” said Whitefish Senior Planner Wendy Compton-Ring. “They are completing that extension for Shilo Avenue and Whitefish Avenue — this connection has long been planned. The traffic study acknowledges that the full connection of this road will help disperse traffic and it will improve traffic circulation.”

The applicant is dedicating about one acre along the Whitefish River as parkland. That exceeds the amount required by almost half an acre. Within the river buffer, the city has a 20-foot wide easement from 2018 to locate and construct the shared use path, according to the staff report.

The trees along the eastern edge of the property, nearest the river, drew further discussion.

“Can we require those trees to be preserved as part of the tree retention plan?” asked Mayor John Muhlfeld. “I’d like to see that buffer preserved in its entirety.”

The city received four letters and three residents spoke at the meeting, their concerns ranging from increased traffic to snow removal and riverbank erosion.

“One of our big concerns… is the trees, not only the trees the Mayor spoke of, that are on the river, but also the trees that are on the north side of the property, that separate Les Schwabb from that piece of property,” said Andrew Bing, Riverview Meadows HOA President. “We’re very concerned (because) it provides a buffer for our subdivision as well and we ‘d like to see some way those can also be preserved.”

The council crafted and approved amendments to two of the conditions, one that requires a certified arborist to assist the developer and the other to retain any existing healthy trees outside the river buffer and setback.

Councilor Rebecca Norton wanted to see a stairway located on the bank to improve the public access to the river, but her amendment failed for lack of a second.

Staff said the city is not able to require the developer to do any more than he already has, since he is donating more land than is required for parkland and is not making any additional requests. After discussion, it was determined the city would consider building a better access point sometime in the future.