VISION WHITEFISH 2045 ADOPTED!

On Monday, April 20, 2026 the Whitefish City Council adopted Vision Whitefish 2045. Thank you to all the citizens, volunteer committees, decision makers, and staff for the countless hours (and years) of work to bring this document to fruition. The adopted version has been posted on the website HERE.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Now that we have a mostly text document completed, staff will begin the process of the final layout and design. Given the complexity of the document, the final layout will be comprised of "Part One" which will be the graphics heavy "community plan" and "Part Two" which will be a detailed resource document with all the narrative and research. It is our hope that the community plan will result in a user friendly booklet that is supported by the data for those who want a deeper dive. We are also discussing whether there will be a web friendly version of the plan. You will be notified when this is complete and will be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council in public hearings.

Remaining Sections

There are still a few sections left to complete. This includes an executive summary, letter from the Mayor, and acknowledgements section. Staff has already begun the process of working on an implementation schedule. Each plan element contains numerous goals and objectives. Many of the objectives contained in Vision Whitefish 2045 are general policies or positions of the city pertaining to particular topics or issues as discussed in each plan element. Other objectives are actionable items which are quantifiable and implementable. These action items are being assessed and ranked, and will be used for future work projects, regulations, and city priorities. All new sections and implementation items will be brought to the Planning Commission and City Council in future public hearings.

IMPLEMENTATION OF VW 2045 AND THE MONTANA LAND USE PLANNING ACT (MLUPA)

Staff has already begun working on "quick fix" updates to get our zoning and subdivision regulations in conformance with the requirements of MLUPA. The first set of these quick fixes will be going to the Planning Commission in a public hearing next THURSDAY, APRIL 29 beginning at 6PM. Following these updates, staff will begin working on more comprehensive zoning updates with the help of a consultant.

As mentioned above, staff is working through an implementation schedule of all the actionable items of VW2045. Staff intends to develop an "implementation website" on the same platform as VW 2045 where you will be able to subscribe, follow individual projects and receive newsletter updates. Please be patient with us while we work though all these items and get the website launched. If you are subscribed to this site, you will receive a notification with a link to the new website, and future activity will be directed toward that site as we transition away from this one.

Thank you so much for being involved and all the participation!