Whitefish City Council on Monday will consider a fourth request for changes to the Whitefish Yards development on the Whitefish River.  

The development at 95 Karrow Avenue is on the former Idaho Timber site. While it has gone through several modifications, it first gained approval as a mixed-use development in 2018.   

City Council meets at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall, 418 E. Second St. 

The property is developed with paved streets and parking. Now the developer is looking to move the project to a more residential-type development, along with planned commercial uses, including a 70-room hotel.  

The current request is to increase the residential units from 97 to a maximum of 150. Of those units 10% would be required to be deed restricted for affordability as part of the city’s Legacy Homes Program. All housing would either be long-term rentals or ownership units.  

Also requested is a change in building height across the project up to 42 feet. The current height is 35 feet except where it's zoned WT-3 and the developer would like a standard height across the project.  

The third change is to allow a building footprint on one of the lots to exceed 3,500 square feet, which would match previous changes to other lots.  

The project includes a public trail along the river and access to the river through a public dock.  

Also, Council is set to consider a request from Alpine 93/40 Investors to change management of deed-restricted units as part of its development at U.S. 93 and Montana 40. The developer and city in 2023 negotiated an agreement related to 21 of the 210 apartment units in the development as deed restricted for affordable housing.  

That agreement required the Whitefish Housing Authority to administer the affordable rental units. However, Alberto Valner, owner of the project, is requesting to manage the units by income-qualifying tenants and performing yearly income recertification. 

The developer is also requesting the removal of a provision that the maximum rent for the affordable units includes the utilities.  

City Attorney Angela Jacobs in a memo to Council said Alpine has successfully taken on the role of managing affordable units in other projects and under the new agreement, the city would review Alpine’s work. She recommends the change in management, and in the memo, seeks direction from Council on the utilities change.  

Site work started this spring on the mixed-use project, which includes up to 15,000 square feet of commercial space.  

During a work session at 5:30 p.m., Council will discuss the 2026-2030 Capital Improvements Program and hear an update on the fiscal year 2026 budget.  

The city’s Capital Improvements Program identifies needed investments in capital facilities and equipment over the next five years.  

The program contains 102 schedule projects totaling more than $57 million. About 83% of the project costs fall under Public Works and are related to wastewater improvements, water system improvements, stormwater projects and street reconstruction projects, including those funded by resort tax collections.  

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 406-758-4421 or [email protected].