The Whitefish City Council met last week to discuss a budget request from Housing Whitefish to support Phase 2 of the Alpenglow apartment project and to consider taking action in the Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification v. State of Montana lawsuit.

Last month, the council approved the planned unit development for Phase 2 of the Alpenglow Apartments located at 530 Edgewood Place.

Phase 2 is a single, L-shaped, three-story building on a little over half an acre on the northeast corner of the lot with parking to the north. The project will include studios, and one- and two-bedroom apartments. All 18 units are proposed to be deed-restricted.

The average median income for the project is 83% with 11 of the units being offered to households at or under 80% area median income.

In order to meet the goals for area median incomes served, Housing Whitefish requested a total of $1 million in financial support from the city, with the payments occurring over a period of three fiscal years. The first $200,000 will come from the Affordable Housing Fund in fiscal year 2024 and the remainder, from the Community Housing portion of the resort tax in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

“The city contributing $1 million to this project indicates their continued commitment to affordable housing initiatives in the community,” Housing Whitefish executive director Daniel Sidder said. “We can use this contribution to leverage additional donor and grant funds to meet our fundraising target and move this project toward construction.”

Sidder told the council they have already fundraised about $200,000.

Housing Whitefish will kick off a capital campaign in the spring and Sidder said he has hired a campaign manager. 

“[We’re] bringing on somebody who has a lot of experience raising nonprofit dollars to help us take that next step as an organization with fundraising,” Sidder said.

The estimated project cost is a little over $4.6 million with funding coming from the Coal Trust Multifamily Homes Program, the city and from private donations and grants.

“Everybody’s been telling me that people want to support housing,” Sidder said. “Let’s see if people want to support housing and want to support our project that’s going to be an asset to the community for a long time and be restricted, affordable housing.”

According to a table supplied by Sidder, the proposed rent prices include a utility allowance and  range from $821 for a studio to a little over $2,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. 

Sidder told council the current status of Phase 2 includes moving forward with design and engineering while waiting for the Coal Trust application to be reviewed in April. The goal for the groundbreaking is 2025.

Councilor Rebecca Norton asked if the project will continue if Housing Whitefish is not awarded funding from the Coal Trust.

“If we don’t get the Coal Trust funds we will be looking to see what other financing options there are,” Sidder said. “We’ll probably need to raise more money.”

In that case, he said the organization would do something creative and make it work.

“I’m glad to see this project here. I really appreciate how this is presented,” said Councilor Ben Davis after making a motion to grant the request. “I think the way the resort tax budget in the future is laid out was really helpful, as well as the way the budget for the project was laid out.

“I would request the MOU adequately addresses the fact that if anything changes as far as this budget … that it comes back to the council.”

The council voted unanimously to approve Housing Whitefish’s request for funding for Phase 2.

WHITEFISH CITY Attorney Angela Jacobs reviewed the MAID v. State of Montana lawsuit which was discussed at the council meeting in early February when the council considered whether the city wanted to become involved in some way. 

The suit centers around the legality of Senate Bill 245, which allows multi-family and mixed-use in all commercial zones; Senate Bill 323, which required duplexes to be permitted where single-family homes are permitted; and House Bill 246, which addresses regulations regarding tiny homes and manufactured homes.

Those bits of legislation were passed at last summer’s state Legislature, so in August, the Whitefish City Council adopted sweeping changes to the city code in response to the new legislation. 

While inline with the state’s laws, the changes wiped out years of work Whitefish spent crafting amendments to the city code which were intended to create affordable housing options and included a “Rent to Locals” program which gave incentives to property owners who agreed to a five-year deed restriction wherein they lease an ADU long-term to a local resident.

The case was granted a preliminary injunction, which, Jacobs wrote, “does not constitute a determination of the merits of a claim. It merely preserves the status quo prior to final adjudication.” 

As far as the city becoming involved with the case, Jacobs presented the council with three options, including waiting, enacting interim zoning regulations, or amending current zoning regulations to re-authorize the “Rent to Locals” program.

“The first option was not to do anything at this point and see, ultimately, how the district court rules on the merits of the case,” Jacobs said. “You did express some interest … in filing an amicus brief. I’m not saying don’t get involved, I’m just saying maybe we should think about when we’re getting involved.”

The vote was in favor of the wait and see option 4-2 with Councilors Rebecca Norton and Councilor Frank Sweeney voting in opposition.