We had a great turnout for the first general visioning sessions of Vision Whitefish 2045! We counted 53 participants on February 21 and 57 on the 22nd!.

Staff gave a brief presentation about the growth policy update and what visioning is. Then as a warm-up, we engaged the attendees in some interactive polling exercises in which the results could be seen in real time. Then we broke the audience up into five groups for group exercises. The first part included mapping, the second half included group discussion questions.

If you were unable to attend, do not fret! We have provided these same exercises for you to complete at your convenience!

The mapping exercise is available here.

The group discussion questions are available here.

These will close on March 15, and all results will be posted sometime after that date. Please be patient, as we have a LOT of input to get through :)

Vision Whitefish 2045 Team

The new Community Development Board has scheduled the first Visioning Sessions.

Visioning is a process by which a community forms a mental picture of the future it wants. This includes working together to recognize shared values and defining what makes Whitefish special and how to protect valuable assets. These first visioning sessions will be a general discussion about community character, assets and opportunities and will include considering several questions and a mapping exercise to help guide the growth policy update process. This will be the first of many visioning sessions.

Staff does intend to bring specific visioning sessions out into the community when we start working on elements such as land use and housing. We have scheduled IDENTICAL SESSIONS for two different nights to provide more flexibility for attendees. These sessions will be at Whitefish City Hall at 5:30 PM ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 AND THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22. Here is the flyer for the visioning sessions.

WE HAVE A NEW VISION WHITEFISH 2045 DESIGN! We received several very good submissions, but in the end, at their January 18, 2024 meeting the Community Development Board voted on a design provided by Genna Bartingale who lives right here in Whitefish! Congratulations Genna! Genna will receive a $250 gift card, memorialization and credit of the artwork in the Growth Policy and the website, a printed copy of the Growth Policy and a framed poster of the artwork. Here is the full sized design.

There will be a Community Development Board Work Session on Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 5PM.

Topics will include:

- Updates on the progress of the growth policy thus far.

- Discussion and selection of final growth policy cover artwork.

- Discussion of the visioning process and selection of new dates.

WHITEFISH HIGH SCHOOL VISION WHITEFISH 2045 PRESENTATIONS

Last Spring the Engage Whitefish Team began communicating with Whitefish High School to see how we could get tomorrow's leaders involved with the growth policy that will shape the future of their city. This culminated in Mr. Wes Webb's Political Science classes using Vision Whitefish 2045 as their Senior Project! City Staff made presentations to 5 different classes and attended class work days in September, and the students were to write senior papers offering ideas and persuasive arguments related to the growth policy. Several of the students will present their ideas to the Community Development Board at the beginning of the work session.

Mr. Webb discussing Vision Whitefish 2045 with one of the five classes using it as their senior project.

Thanks for all the participation in the surveys! The surveys have been closed. Staff received up to 250 responses, depending on which of the three surveys were used. Staff is still analyzing the results of these surveys, but they have been posted in a documents folder titled "Survey Results".

Here is the survey regarding what people value most about Whitefish.

Here is the survey regarding what people believe are the biggest challenges to Whitefish.

Here are the topics most important ranked in level of importance.

City of Whitefish Long Range Planner Alan Tiefenbach was invited to discuss the growth policy on the KGEZ morning show. You can listen to this interview here.

The workshops which were tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, November 29 and Thursday November 30 HAVE BEEN POSTPONED. Full details of this will be described in the upcoming November Newsletter.

We understand there are a lot of moving pieces regarding the Growth Policy! Staff will be available online for those who were not able to attend the kick off meeting or still need additional information. Staff recommends you review the recorded video from the kick off meeting and the kickoff handout prior to this meeting.

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting(External link)

Meeting ID: 228 881 980 024
Passcode: 3H2po7

Download Teams(External link) | Join on the web(External link)

Or call in (audio only)

+1 406-426-9898,,785209284# United States, Billings

(833) 563-1751,,785209284# United States (Toll-free)

Phone Conference ID: 785 209 284#

The August 24, 2023 5:30 PM Growth Policy Kickoff Meeting will be streamed online for those who are unable to be there in person. It will be available on the City YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=city+of+whitefish

The first Growth Policy Update kick off meeting is scheduled! This kick off will be from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM on August 24, 2023 at Whitefish City Hall Council Chambers, at 418 E 2nd St.

This kick-off meeting will be a town hall style format. Staff will give a general overview of the project, present the existing conditions of the City, describe how interested parties can stay involved in the process and explain how to use this Public Engagement Website. The methods staff will use to notify the public of this meeting are described in the “Tools for Outreach” section of the Public Engagement Plan posted on this website.