The Whitefish City Council approved amendments to the 95 Karrow and the Alpine 93/40 projects last week. 

Karrow Whitefish Investment LLC, owner of the 95 Karrow project, a mixed-use development located at the former Idaho Timber property known as Whitefish Yards, requested a fourth amendment to the planned unit development.  

Changes include increasing the number of residential units from 97 to 150, allowing the same building height of 42 feet across the site, adjusting the footprint for one lot on the grounds and allowing for flexibility of uses across the property. 

The council unanimously approved the changes. All other conditions, 27 of them, established in earlier hearings still apply. 

Whitefish City Planner Dave Taylor said the underlying zoning allows 122 units, so if 150 units are desired, the developer would have to deed restrict 10% of the units and be part of the Legacy Homes Program. 

Aaron Wallace, Montana Creative architect, represented the applicant and said the development stalled for two years while the property was for sale. 

“The underlying development, where it was a mixed-use project with limited residential, just didn’t have the financial wherewithal for anybody to move forward with it,” Wallace said. “Where we saw the best benefit would be to increase the residential aspect of the project up to 150 units over the course of the site plus the 70-unit hotel.” 

The council proposed and passed a condition that construction of the deed restricted housing be completed in concurrency with the residential construction. 

Taylor said the Legacy Homes Program has administrative procedures for the deed restricted housing that require the deed restricted units be built in equal number throughout the phases and built in various buildings on the site. 

Wallace said the developer will hold the units and rent them long term, which is defined as 30 days or more. Some would be furnished and some would not. 

“The marketplace that we’re looking for are groups that are, say in Iron Horse, that don’t want to own their own home anymore,” Wallace said. “They have several homes ... but they want to have a nice place in town that they only just have to pay rent for.” 

With the new plan for less commercial and more residential construction, the estimated traffic trips decrease from 4,000 trips per day to 1,500. 

THE ALPINE 93/40 project is well underway at its corner lot and developer Alberto Valner asked the council to approve a draft of the deed restrictions, so his project does not come to a stop. 

The council voted to allow Valner to apply for building permits with the deed restrictions applied at certificate of occupancy rather than prior to building permits.  

“We’re on the verge of starting excavations for foundations for the first of the buildings and we’re prepared to pull our permits, but ... the city has, in the permit process, indicated to us that we needed to get these deed restrictions recorded in order to pull the permit,” he said. “Without this agreement in place, they cannot be recorded.” 

Whitefish City Attorney Angela Jacobs said rental deed restrictions require the Whitefish Housing Authority to income qualify tenants and the developer is responsible for doing background checks.  

Valner asked to take over both parts of the deed restriction procedure, given the recent history of the Whitefish Housing Authority. 

“I think we’re really well suited to continue the income qualifications, the waitlists ...” said Riss Getts, acting executive director of the Housing Authority. “We just don’t want to be completely shut out of the administration of this.”