Downtown plan not yet 'conceptual'

Councilors table vote for second time

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish City Council on Monday delayed a vote for the second time on the proposed downtown infrastructure plan.

The last time the council tabled a vote on the plan, it was because city manager Gary Marks recommended that all the councilors be present during the important vote.

This time, the council said it wasn't ready to vote on the plan's "conceptual" phase, saying they needed more information about funding for reconstructing Central Avenue and several side streets and for building a parking garage.

The council reached consensus on design elements for the Central Avenue project, however, voting 5-1 to adopt the proposed plan minus mid-block crossings and subject to future funding concerns. Councilor Ryan Friel cast the lone nay vote.

Portland-based consultant George Crandall consistently promoted his version of the downtown plan. He pointed out repeatedly that the plan must be followed closely if the city wants to save its downtown commercial district from threats by Kalispell's proposed Glacier Town Center and other "category killer" shopping centers.

Again and again, he hammered home the message that improving the "retail shopping environment" is essential to the plan.

But several people expressed concerns about how the downtown plan could affect Whitefish's blue-collar landscape and history, including resident Jill Evans.

While wider sidewalks and raised crossings "made sense," Evans was concerned about how streetscaping would change the "historical vista." She warned that such a change would be "permanent."

Crandall said his plan was modest, not aggressive. He also said that basing such an important plan on the possibility of heavy snow creating traffic problems one week a year was short-sighted.

"It's good to recognize these issues, but you must not sacrifice the retail shopping experience for these anomalies," he said.

Ryan Mitchell, of Robert Peccia Associates, the engineering firm that will head up the downtown projects, presented photos and video from the city's recent street experiment. The sidewalks were widened 18 inches with timbers, and traffic cones were set up to simulate an eight-foot wide snow berm.

In the video, vehicles were seen bobbing and weaving around extra-long vehicles — both on the block with the timbers and the block without the "widened" sidewalk. Mitchell noted that some drivers do not pull up close to the curb, and in one case a driver left his tailgate down so his dog could catch some rays.

Mitchell estimated about $120,000 had already been spent on the conceptual designs.

A decision about funding for the two projects was not the council's intent on Monday. The goal was to vote on the conceptual designs for Central Avenue and the parking garage.

But mayor Mike Jenson expressed concern that the $5 million set aside for street construction over seven shoulder seasons might not be enough, given rising construction costs. The councilors also expressed concern about how much resort tax money might go to downtown streets.

As for the parking garage at Second Street and Spokane Avenue, several councilors said they'd prefer to see a groundfloor-only parking lot with landscaping and some retail.

Crandall, however, emphasized that convenient downtown parking must be provided to bring in retail businesses. The parking garage was needed to support existing retail business, not to support future business. Other parking structures would address that need, he said.

People don't come to Whitefish to shop — they come to hike or ski and maybe shop and dine afterwards, councilor Nick Palmer claimed. He suggested letting downtown workers use a groundfloor lot at Second and Spokane and increasing parking fines to open up spaces along Central Avenue.

Councilor Shirley Jacobson called for a ban on extended cab pickup trucks on Central Avenue.

Councilor Nancy Woodruff called for a workshop on downtown plan.

"We're floundering here," she said.

The citizens advisory committee reviewing the downtown plan met on March 10. After looking at the Mitchell's photos and video, the committee unanimously voted to adopt the plan as presented

"From the outset, the intention of this process was to create an economic stimulus which would ensure our downtown's vitality," the committee said. "If the specific improvements called for in the design to create a more pedestrian-friendly downtown are not implemented, the economic benefit will not result."