Downtown projects raise concerns

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

Several downtown merchants have raised concerns over conceptual designs for streetscaping Central Avenue and a new downtown parking garage. Both projects are slated to begin in 2009.

Concerns range from loss of parking spaces to the overall look-and-feel of the proposed designs. Bulb-outs and raised pedestrian crossings intended to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly will eliminate 37 parking spaces along Central Avenue, opponents claim.

The Whitefish streetscaping plan will go beyond what Kalispell did to First Avenues West and East several years ago because pedestrian crossings at intersections and at mid-block will be raised to the same level as sidewalks.

And while a new parking structure at Second and Spokane could address parking needs, some critics are concerned about cost and design.

Opposition mounts

Mary Witbrod and Den-ise Magstadt, owners of Imagination Station, publicly oppose the streetscaping plan for several reasons. They note that a mid-block crossing will eliminate a parking space right in front of their store, and in a December op-ed piece, Witbrod stressed the importance of local shoppers, not just tourists.

"Is it possible to add the parking garage and just upgrade the infrastructure of downtown without changing the layout of Central?" she asked. "Is being 'pedestrian friendly' more important than just being friendly?"

Some critics also say streetscaping will make downtown look like a "lifestyle center," the latest concept in shopping-mall design, rather than a rustic, Western, blue-collar town. The 485-acre Glacier Town Center north of Kalispell, which was approved by the Kalispell City Council last week, will use a "lifestyle center" design rather than be an enclosed shopping mall.

In a recent op-ed piece, Roberta Speer, owner of Montana Territory, expressed her concerns about how streetscaping would change Whitefish's small-town look.

"Rather than maintaining our historical value, the design will make us look like every other newly revamped small-town-USA, including many new proposed town centers in the valley that are adapting similar designs," Speer said. "Instead of accomplishing any long-term business improvement, it would destroy that which makes Whitefish a unique shopping experience."

Supporters of the plan note that a public process has been under way for eight years and opponents are expressing concerns late in the game. City officials, however, agree that last-minute opposition to public and private projects is not uncommon.

The Heart of Whitefish downtown merchant association met with concerned merchants on Jan. 24. At the request of chairman Gary Stephens and member Rhonda Fitzgerald, the Pilot was excluded from the meeting.

Before the meeting, Stephens said he supports a "lifestyle center" look for downtown Whitefish. He said bulb-outs with benches and landscaping will create "loitering" areas that will generate more business. He also said streetscaping will not change the character of downtown.

"I don't see a loss of character by changing the surface," he said. "The character is based on building architecture."

Stephens said store-front canopies will remain, and he noted efforts to keep building heights at three floors or less. He said a majority of downtown merchants signed a petition in support of the streetscaping design.

As for the 37 lost parking spaces on Central Avenue, Stephens said that will be a temporary impact because the overall Downtown Master Plan, which the Whitefish City Council adopted in 2005, calls for creating 740 new parking spaces in three new parking structures — at Second and Spokane, Central and Third, and north of the O'Shaughnessy.

The downtown plan also calls for creating 140,000 square feet of new retail space on top the existing 175,000 square feet. That will increase the need for downtown parking.

Funding for the streetscaping has also become an issue. The city council learned Jan. 7 that plans call for reconstructing three blocks on Central Avenue and four more blocks on First and Third streets at a cost of more than $5.2 million.

The money will come from the portion of the city's resort tax devoted to street construction, which amounts to nearly $1 million per year. The downtown street reconstruction plan therefore calls for using all resort-tax street money for five years.

That idea didn't sit well with the city's Resort Tax Monitoring Committee, which had earlier approved using three years of resort tax money for reconstructing Central Avenue. On Jan. 23, the committee forwarded a motion to the city council saying they supported the downtown plan in its entirety, but they recommended the council pursue other funds for First and Third streets, such as tax-increment finance (TIF) funding.

"The committee didn't want to commit all resort-tax funds to just downtown because other areas of the city needed funding," committee chairman Doug Reed said.

Parking issues

Streetscaping is not the only issue. Concerns over the parking garage at Second and Spokane range from aesthetics to economics. A design presented in December calls for 220 spaces on three floors with a 60-foot deep nonprofit center with retail or office space along Second Street.

Stephens said the parking area on the second and third floors could be extended out to Second Street, adding 58 more spaces. He said that made more economic sense because second- and third-floor retail space is not as valuable, but city engineer John Wilson said the plan that engineering-firm Robert Peccia and Associates is working on does not include Stephens' proposal.

Downtown parking is a controversial topic, especially during the summer tourist season, but downtown parking structures are expensive. With a projected cost of $5.2 million, the 220 spaces work out to $23,636 apiece.

But the net effect of the proposed parking garage is not 220 spaces — there are 60 spaces at the site already, Whitefish Middle School needs 33, Central Avenue streetscaping will eliminate 37, and the nonprofit organizations and retail businesses in the Second Street annex could use another 10 spaces.

Whitefish architect Doug Rhodes has concerns about the aesthetic and social impacts of a large parking structure on downtown. A three-story parking garage is a "dead zone," he said, which will cast a shadow on adjacent properties.

"It presents a monolithic wall that will contain cars but no people and require lighting 24 hours a day," he said. "A false facade will help hide the garage but not the effect of its presence."

Rhodes said he'd rather see a single-level parking lot with about 80 spaces and spreading out parking needs to satellite areas surrounding downtown.

The city council will hold a public hearing on the downtown plans at their regular Feb. 4 meeting. They could vote at that time to accept the conceptual designs — including bulb-outs, raised pedestrian crossings, mid-block pedestrian crossings and the overall size and design of the parking structure.