Downtown: '1, 2, 3 floors - who cares?'

Planning board considers downtown restrictions on height, chainstores, setbacks

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

By a 4-3 vote, the Whitefish City-County Planning Board recommended that buildings along Central Avenue be restricted to 35 feet in height but not to two stories.

Several board members, including Peggy Sue Amelon and chairman Frank Sweeney, said allowing three stories within that height restriction had its benefits.

"I don't know what the cachet is for two stories," Sweeney said. "One, two or three floors in 35 feet — who cares?"

The city's architectural review standards and its downtown master plan call for no more than 35 feet and one or two stories, but that conflicts with the WB3 zoning regulations that govern all of downtown Whitefish.

WB3 regulations allow 45-foot high buildings if stepped back 20 feet at the 35-foot level, and the conflict between the two sets of rules has created problems for International Capital Partners' The Offices At Cobblestone project, at the former Truby's restaurant site.

Resolving that conflict and recommending amendments that promote the goals of the downtown master plan were the tasks facing the planning board at their July 17 meeting.

Most of the amendments reviewed by the board are intended to promote retail sales in the downtown core. This includes amendments to the city's architectural review standards.

A zoning change that would prohibit financial institutions and professional services up front on the first floor, however, has drawn some criticism.

In a letter to city planners, Whitefish attorney Bill Hileman criticized the downtown plan's goal of eliminating professional offices from ground floor spaces. Hileman's law firm has been located at Second Street and Central Avenue since 1969.

The offices were originally housed in the First National Bank building, constructed in 1910, Hileman said, proving that non-retail businesses occupied the ground floor at that location for nearly a century. After the building was destroyed by fire in 1992, none of the other 12 businesses there wanted to rebuild.

"Thereafter, we had a building designed and built, at considerable expense, which would enhance the downtown," Hileman wrote. "I have never heard anything but positive comments about our endeavor — how ironic that you now propose zoning changes which would have prohibited our business."

Reacting to comments by downtown plan proponents that depict his building as "dead space," Hileman noted that "most retail establishments close at 5:30 or 6 p.m. — are they then 'dead space' for the rest of the evening and/or the weekend?"

Hileman said he walked Central Avenue and counted two professional offices on the ground floor, and he claimed "other experts in planning would testify that a healthy mix for downtown does not need to exclude professional services."

He asked city planners to provide "any data" indicating that neighboring stores had lost business because of his building.

"Do we need new laws based on unwarranted and unfounded fears?" he asked.

HEART OF WHITEFISH CHAIRMAN Gary Stephens, however, had a different take on the law firm's building, which he claims decreased retail value for Central Avenue businesses.

"I told him that a number of times," Stephens said, adding that Hileman did was best for himself, not his neighbors.

Planning board member Greg Gunderson took up Hileman's case by asking if some kind of "cap and trade" arrangement could be made allowing up to 15 percent of ground floor space to be used for professional offices.

"We have enough lawyers and Realtors to fill every other building downtown," board member Ole Netteberg said.

Board member Steve Qunell pointed out that professional offices would not be banned, just limited to second floors, and city planning director David Taylor noted that professional offices could operate on ground floors, but not in the front of the building where they would be visible from the sidewalk.

Toby Scott, a former planning board member, told the board that requiring windows to cover 75 percent of the storefront did not match buildings as they currently exist along Central Avenue.

"Nobody is complying with that now," he said, pointing out that such designs were only found in shopping malls.

When planning board member Kerry Crittenden asked if such a requirement was structurally sound, Taylor indicated the amendment was meant to be linear, not based on area.

Gunderson then asked if requiring so much window space would detract from the ambiance of bars, such as the Bulldog Saloon.

Taylor explained that the requirement was intended for new construction, and in any event, bars could use the windows as a boxed-in area for advertising.

Formula retail, or chain stores and restaurants, would not be allowed in the WB3 zone. This includes businesses with more than 12 establishments that use standardized merchandise, uniforms, apparel, decor, colors, signage or logos.

When asked by Qunell if exceptions could be made, Taylor said federal laws prohibit preferential treatment for businesses. He said Whitefish could restrict certain businesses from certain areas, such as downtown, but not all of Whitefish, and he noted that some businesses got around chain-store regulations by changing their decor, colors and logos.

Several Central Avenue businesses that are part of a larger chain business would be grandfathered, including MacKenzie River Pizza and Nelson's Ace Hardware.

Several board members noted that they disagreed with widening Central Avenue sidewalks by 18 inches, although that decision was made by the council several months ago.

Crittenden and Sweeney noted that store owners were using sidewalks for reader boards, sale racks, tables and chairs.

"It's costly with no benefit," Sweeney said. "Parking will get worse."

Other downtown master plan amendments include:

? Only retail businesses will be allowed on the ground floor for buildings on Central Avenue.

? Buildings on Central Avenue and in the Railroad District with a footprint greater than 7,500 square feet would be subject to a conditional-use permit — the so-called mini-box store regulations.

? When possible, ground floor ceiling height should be 11 feet or greater. Amelon called that a "relatively new tradition" downtown, and Stephens said 10 1/2 feet would be fine with him.

? Curb cuts are prohibited along Central Avenue and in the Railroad District in order to promote on-street parking.

The planning board's recommendations will go to the city council on Aug. 18.