The Whitefish Planning Commission last week voted 3-2 to swap all uses of the word “mixed-use” to “compact” in the transportation element of the growth policy update Vision Whitefish 2045. 

The four-hour meeting was the third time the commission had discussed the transportation element. 

The commission will vote in February on its full recommendation for the growth policy before it heads to City Council for work sessions and public hearings. 

Whitney Beckham, board chair, said that the transportation element was not the appropriate place to suggest mixed-use development, and that the land use and zoning elements were better avenues.  

Mixed-use development primarily means mixing residential and commercial properties. It has been a repeated topic of discussion in growth policy planning. 

Compact is a broader development term that prioritizes density as opposed to urban sprawl.  

The Planning Commission also removed “mixed-use” from the economic element earlier this year.  

“It’s an excuse, in some places, to add residential where there’s already commercial,” Beckham said. “I think that’s a great addition and improves transportation, but overwhelmingly from the public I’ve heard, do not add residential. 

“People are very concerned, be it a historic neighborhood or development somewhere else, in that they don’t want more traffic.” 

Board member Mallory Phillips said that without mixed-use, the transportation element is not multimodal.  

“It will not accomplish the things that are set out to be done,” she said. “Because if you do not allow for some limited commercial and residential, you are requiring that people who do not live close to downtown, will be driving to have their needs met.”  

To support multimodality and accessibility, the board added street lighting to the definition of complete streets.  

According to the document, complete streets are roadways that accommodate safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists.  

Plowing sidewalks due to accessibility concerns is another topic for future discussion, the board said. 

The board also discussed revising the city’s engineering standards to improve how it considers transportation’s impact on new development.  

Wording, including “significant,” “congested intersections,” and “north of the viaduct,” was included as suggestive parameters to warrant traffic impact statements, beyond the existing standard if a development would generate over 200 additional daily trips.  

A bypass of some kind has long been discussed in the community but was dismissed in a 2022 downtown Whitefish Highway Study and thus is not included in the transportation element, although the possibility of improving and designating Baker Avenue as a state route is mentioned.  

The board had overall consensus on incorporating an objective to reduce traffic speeds. 

Mayre Flowers, director of Citizens for a Better Flathead, requested that for the rest of the growth policy update process, that agency comments be included in the public comments posted online. She also requested that the documents be uploaded two weeks prior to a meeting.  

City Attorney Angela Jacobs said that two weeks was not possible to hit deadlines, and that Alan Tiefenbach, city long range planner, is “impeccable” at timely posting.  

Meetings are being held at a greater frequency, driven by a May 2026 deadline to complete the growth policy, as required by SB382, the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA).  

During public comment, Nathan Dugan said, “Whitefish is not doing this in a vacuum... the sheer amount of time that the public has had to engage in Whitefish is amongst the most in the entire state.” 

Tiefenbach said that there are no hidden comments, and that “comments were either incorporated into the draft, or I said why I didn’t. If someone feels like they aren’t being heard, it’s on the Planning Commission.”  

At the end of the meeting, Phillips expressed frustration with the growth policy’s progress. 

“SB382 [Montana Land Use Planning Act] was designed to give more people in the community at large a voice in the planning process,” Phillips said. “I’m really concerned in the ways in which the voices of the five or six people who show up to every meeting are heard over the people who are not able to be in the room... it’s a disservice to the law.” 

Montana Land Use Planning Act is requiring cities to set clear criteria for development upfront; the idea being that it will increase public participation by allowing the public to contribute to the criteria firsthand, making for a more streamlined administrative review of development as projects arise thereafter.  

“I just want you to understand, that when younger people are ... getting upset, it’s because their voices aren’t being heard,” Phillips said. “And the same people, who’ve been involved in Whitefish for the last 30 years, while their voices are important, they are not directly affected by so many of those issues. I need you to sit with that.”

The next Vision Whitefish 2045 meeting will be Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. and will focus on the housing element. See https://engagewhitefish.com/vision-whitefish-2045 for details and to submit comments.