City sets heights for Central Ave.

It's 35 feet and two stories, but Baker and Spokane avenues are not included

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

After years of public hearings and expensive work by consultants, the Whitefish City Council approved several key amendments to the downtown master plan on Monday — including setting height restrictions.

By unanimous vote with two councilors absent, the council limited buildings fronting Central Avenue between Railway and Third streets to 35 feet high and two stories.

Buildings elsewhere in the WB-3 zone, which includes all of downtown and the Railway District, can be built to 45 feet with a 20-foot setback from the front at 35 feet, as currently stated in the zoning regulations.

Several councilors said they were OK with taller buildings on Baker and Spokane avenues, but they wanted to protect the "funky" look along Central Avenue, as local Realtor Ken Stein put it. Stein was concerned Bigfork might eventually become more "funky" than Whitefish.

Councilor Ryan Friel expressed surprise that the Heart of Whitefish downtown merchants association would recommend 45-foot tall buildings with three stories along Central Avenue, which might affect the street's historical look and feel.

But councilor Nick Palmer responded by pointing out that many of the association's members own buildings there and would want to "maximize their position" if they sold their buildings.

Palmer also noted that allowing taller buildings along Central Avenue would encourage developers to buy older buildings there and tear them down. On the other hand, the current City Hall on Baker Avenue would make a good location for a 45-foot high boutique hotel.

Special projects in downtown, such as a boutique hotel, can be approved through existing zoning regulations, even though planned-unit developments are typically limited to sites with at least one acre, city planning director David Taylor told the council. That eliminated the need for one amendment the council had been considering.

Another amendment to the downtown master plan addressed the goal of eliminating professional offices from the ground floors.

William Hileman, of Hedman, Hileman and LaCosta, the law firm with offices at Second Street and Central Avenue, had protested the suggested zoning amendment.

In response, the city council directed staff to draft language allowing the law firm's building to be vacant for more than 180 days without losing its "grandfathered" status, in the event the law firm chose to move.

Taylor recommended against using the zoning code to exempt the two nonconforming professional businesses along Central Avenue from the standard regulations for "grandfathered" uses.

Citing his experience with the lakeshore protection committee, councilor John Muhlfeld said he agreed with Taylor. The goal is to phase out nonconforming uses, he said.

Palmer and Friel, however, both noted how long the downtown master planning process had gone on and the need to move forward.

The unanimous vote was necessary because councilors Shirley Jacobson and Turner Askew were absent.