Whitefish had become one of Montana’s most sought-after mountain towns — and that success came at a cost. Once built on a timber and rail economy, the town had shifted toward outdoor recreation and second homes. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated housing demand faster than any local plan had anticipated, compounding challenges already facing the state and the country. Then Montana passed new legislation, the Land Use Planning Act, designed to influence local planning and zoning in order to spur more housing production statewide. Whitefish needed a new comprehensive plan, known in Montana as a Growth Policy, that could manage real development pressure responsibly while meeting the requirements of the new state law.
Whitefish wasn’t questioning whether to grow. It already was, faster than the community could plan for it. The real question was where new development should go, how much housing the town actually needed, and how to grow without losing the character that made Whitefish, Whitefish. Getting there required putting those decisions in front of residents directly, not planners alone, so the future land use framework reflected what the community wanted, not just what a deadline demanded.
CZB worked with City staff, policymakers, and stakeholders in fall 2025 and winter 2026 to build the Land Use Element of Whitefish’s new Growth Policy, a core piece of the comprehensive plan. The process kicked off in September 2025 with back-to-back nights of public workshops, where more than 100 participants helped identify the place types and street types that would shape future land uses and the distribution of new housing. That work built directly on a public engagement process already established through two years of prior Growth Policy efforts — not a fresh start, but the next chapter of it.
Whitefish’s new Growth Policy, the city’s comprehensive plan, was officially adopted in April 2026, establishing a locally grounded framework for future land use, new housing, and neighborhood character. CZB was then retained for a follow-up phase: updating Whitefish’s development code to implement the Growth Policy and bring the city into compliance with the state’s new Land Use Planning Act ahead of an October 2026 deadline.
Reach out for more information about this project or to see the final document.
