Whitefish is planning for sprawl, despite saying otherwise

Vision Whitefish 2045, the city’s roadmap for complying with the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA), is nearing the finish line. On April 6, Whitefish City Council is expected to formally adopt a new Land Use Plan and Future Land Use Map after three years of intensive work and public debate. 

Throughout this process, there has been one area of near-total consensus: Whitefish residents do not want urban sprawl. A poll commissioned by Livable Flathead in late February confirmed this, with 69% of Flathead County voters stating that cities should prioritize redeveloping land within existing boundaries rather than expanding outward. This desire to avoid sprawl is the rare middle ground shared by groups that have otherwise been at odds. 

Unfortunately, while the City Council and the public claim to oppose sprawl, the plan they are on the verge of adopting suggests the opposite. The data from the city’s own consulting team reveals a stark disconnect: 

Inside city limits, only three areas were identified for housing development, totaling a mere 115 acres; outside city limits, ten areas were identified for development. Half of these were labeled "preferred" by the public, totaling a massive 700 acres. 

By designating six times more acreage for growth outside the city than inside it, the city is effectively laying the groundwork for the very sprawl it claims to reject. 

This issue is compounded by a plan that appears to "freeze in amber" or downzone many neighborhoods near the downtown core. While keeping existing neighborhoods exactly as they are is a popular sentiment, it carries a heavy price. If we refuse to allow our neighborhoods to evolve, growth has nowhere to go but out. 

The Future Land Use Map is a blueprint for developers; it tells the market exactly where the city wants to grow. If we adopt a map that prevents change in established neighborhoods, including my own, while flagging hundreds of acres of open space for new construction, the outcome is inevitable: Whitefish will sprawl. 

Nathan Dugan is the executive director of Livable Flathead.