Whitefish Sustainable Tourism Management Plan Standing Committee

Sustainable Tourism Management Plan Standing Committee October 17, 2023 @ 2:00 P.M. Minutes 1) Call To Order Brian Schott, Chair, opened the meeting. Members present were Mariah Joos, Ella Kobelt, Nick Polumbus, Elizabeth Colley. Heather Cauffman and Mark Pascoli were absent. Also in attendance was Julie Mullins, Executive Director if Explore Whitefish, Kate McMahon – Applied Communications, and Alan Tiefenbach, Long-Ranger Planner. 2) Approval of September 9, 2023, Minutes Mariah made a motion, seconded by Nick to approve the minutes. The motion carried. 3) STMP Update a) Introductions b) Survey Update (899 surveys as of 10-9-2023) Kate reviewed the results from the community survey. Kate’s notes are provided in the attachment. c) Growth Policy Update & Discussion on Coordination (Alan Tiefenbach – Long Range Planner) Alan Tiefenbach, Long Range Planner, provided update on the Vision Whitefish 2045 Growth Policy. To keep updated visit the Engage Whitefish, https://engagewhitefish.com/vision-whitefish-2045 . Alan suggested members of the committee to attend the public meetings for the Vision Whitefish process. Kate’s notes are provided in the attachment. d) Whitefish Market Report (Explore Whitefish – Julie Mullins) Julie presented the Whitefish Market Report. Kate’s notes are provided in the attachment. e) Focus Group Planning https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nz5IIyM1PjQqeeIbzGUcz2Of8WWqhI_LZXn91F PPVLk/edit?usp=sharing The committee reviewed the focus group list and schedule. Kate’s notes are provided in the attachment. 4) Public Comment None 5) Next Meeting November 21, 2023 6) Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 3:53pm.  Whitefish Sustainable Tourism Committee Meeting Notes 10-17-23 In Attendance: Brian Schott, Nick Polumbus, Liz Colley, Julie Mullins, Michelle Howke, Mariah Joos, Steve Kane, Ella Kobelt, Allen Tiefienbach, Kate McMahon 1. Growth Policy Update • Allen Tiefienback from the Planning Dept. presented on the Growth Policy and reviewed new MCA requirements. • An existing condition report and mapping is underway. The city is hring an economic deelopment consultant and will reach out to the STMP committee for this element as well as the housing element. • The city will be conducting visioning sessions with the community. This may be an opportunity for the STMP committee to piggy back on these meetings. • It was discussed that the Growth Policy is more focused on long-term planning while the STMP is considering more short-term strategies. Also the the Growth Policy makes recommendations on land use and regulatory policies while the STMP includes more programmatic and outreach strategies. • There was discussion on short-term rentals. Allen explained that STR’s are only allowed in certain zoning districts and they will be looking at other options for regulating and enforcement. This is a top issue in the Growth Policy and will likely be addressed in the next legislative session. The STMP Committee could monitor legislative proposals and possibly take and advocacy role. • The committee discussed the importance of community character and referred Allen to the section in the STMP plan that defined elements of community character. They also noted that the STMP plan had detailed estimates of summertime population that could be a useful baseline for Allen in making projections for the Growth Policy. 2. Survey Results • The community survey closed on October 15 and had 912 online responses. Michelle noted that there are about 50-60 paper surveys that need to be entered. • Kate reviewed the summary of online reponses. These will be updated when datea entry for the paper copies is completed. • Mariah volunteered to conduct an analysis on the written comments for the next meeting. Kate will send her a spreadsheet of the written comments. • Some key findings from the survey: o Only about 30% of respondents agreed with the statement that the benefits of tourism outweigh the negative impacts. This was down from 62% who agreed with the statement in 2019. o The resort tax ranked the highest as a benefit of tourism. o Traffic and short term rentals ranged as the greatest concern among respondents. o Whitefish Mountain Resort and general outdoor recreation were the most important assets. 3. Explore Whitefish Marketing Report • Julie Mullins presented the data from the CVB market report. Data is primarily from Smith Travel Data and AirDNA. • STR bookings drop off significantly in the off-season. In November only 8% are booked. • Visitation is down from pandemic peak. • The discussed the need for a balance between the supporting businesses in the off-season and desire for residents who enjoy a break in the tourist crowds. The plan should look at best paractices for coordinating with the seasonality of visitation. CVB has a committee looking into this. 4. Focus Group Planning • The Committee discussed the schedule for the focus group meetings and agreed to have one meeting at the Black Star Brew House to attract the young adult demographic. • Kate encouraged the STMP Committee to add names and email addresses to the stakeholder spreadsheet on Google Drive. 5. Updates/Next Meeting • Michelle shared information about the housing grant that the city is applying for and encouraged committee members to send email comments to her by Oct. 30 • The next meeting is November 21 @ 3:00 pm. Discussion items will include: o Report on focus groups o Data profile chapter o Summary of survey comments o Goals and strategies discussion, … Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm