Two zoning districts could define future land development in Lakeside under a proposal set to go before the Flathead County Planning Board on Aug. 13.  

The board will hold a public hearing on the amendment that would split the Lakeside Zoning District, which is concentrated around the core community of Lakeside, into two designations. 

Planners, real estate agents and homeowners have struggled to understand existing Lakeside zoning regulations for more than a decade, said Planning and Zoning Director Erik Mack.  

The proposed amendment splits the 352-acre Lakeside Zoning District into residential and commercial. The boundary for the zoning district would be Bierney Creek Road to the north, Flathead Lake to the east, Blacktail Road to the south, and Stoner Creek Road and Grayling Road on the west.  

Commercial areas are located along U.S. 93 and 500 feet east and west of the highway, and in most of the area on the shoreline of Flathead Lake. While residential is the area is primarily on the western portion of Lakeside. 

The amendment has been a long time coming, Mack said, and is unrelated to concerns raised by residents in 2022 spurred by the development of an alpine coaster north of Lakeside on U.S. 93.  

The alpine coaster property — like the majority of the area surrounding Lakeside — is unzoned. However, the coaster property falls outside of the Lakeside Zoning District and will not be impacted by the amendment, Mack said. 

The Upper West Shore Alliance held informational meetings in conjunction with the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Department in 2023 about efforts to zone parts of the community.  

“Where unzoned may use to have implied freedom, in some ways now it also implies being unprotected,” Upper West Shore Alliance Director Janie Lewer said at one of the meetings. 

The alliance brought proposed zoning regulations before the planning board during a meeting on Sept. 13, 2023. However, board members rejected the plans and made a few suggested revisions. The alliance has yet to bring a revised plan back to the board, Mack said. 

The Upper West Shore Alliance did not respond to a request for comment by press time.  

The Lakeside Neighborhood Plan adopted in 2010 as part of the county growth policy, does provide general direction and guidance for development. Specific zoning designations assigned to an area designate that certain land uses become either permitted or conditionally permitted, which requires a conditional use permit.  

The Lakeside residential zone would allow single-family housing, home daycares, home occupations, parks and schools, and conditionally allows for multi-family housing.  

The Lakeside commercial zone would allow for housing, but also a variety of commercial operations including retail sales, restaurants and short-term rentals. Hotels, taverns and recreational vehicle parks are considered conditional uses in the commercial zone.  

On Wednesday, the planning board will also take public comment on text amendments to county zoning regulations aimed at addressing housing shortages. Several of the proposed changes have been discussed in planning board workshops since the fall of 2023, according to a staff report. 

Further amendments were added to the proposal to make county zoning regulations compliant with recent legislative action from the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions. 

The planning board meets at 6 p.m. in the second-floor conference room of the South Campus Building, 40 11th Street W. in Kalispell.  

Reporter Hannah Shields can be reached at 758-4439 or [email protected].