Downtown streetscaping plan draws heat
By RICHARD HANNERS
Whitefish Pilot
Supporters and critics of the Central Avenue streetscaping project presented their cases to the Whitefish City Council on March 2.
Seven people, mostly representatives of the Heart of Whitefish downtown merchants association, said the current plan evolved over a lengthy public process and involved many compromises. Not following through would threaten the vitality of downtown retail businesses, they said.
They also explained that any lost parking spaces will be due to standards for handicapped parking and visibility at intersections, not streetscaping, and that raised pedestrian-crossings will not be “glorified speed bumps.”
Among the supporters was Marshall Friedman, representing a real estate group that purchased the former Flanagan’s Central Station building.
Some confusion arose after pro and con petitions were submitted to the council that had signatures from the same people. Chris Schustrom said the petition submitted by Heart of Whitefish came from spring 2008.
Toby Scott, a downtown property owner, distributed a petition in February that calls for replacing underground infrastructure and streetlights on Central Avenue but opposes wider sidewalks as well as bulbouts and raised pedestrian-crossings at intersections.
Scott said 35 of 53 downtown business-owners signed his petition, as did more than 400 Whitefish residents. He called the “groundswell of public opinion” opposed to streetscaping “amazing,” but he added his concern that anyone who criticizes the plan is treated “like Attila The Hun.”
Stephen Isley, who supports bulbouts but not widening the sidewalks, echoed that sentiment. He said he was first “ticked off” when he didn’t immediately back the downtown plan but Heart of Whitefish members told other downtown merchants that he had.
The organization has changed from representing merchants to something else, Isley said, and based on the petitions, Heart of Whitefish is now in the minority.
Several councilors commented on the streetscaping plan at the end of the meeting. Councilor Ryan Friel opened by saying he was concerned about cost.
Councilor Nancy Woodruff said she appreciated the interest shown by the community but worried the issue was becoming divisive.
Addressing the signatures that appear on both petitions, councilor Turner Askew said people told him they supported the overall downtown master plan but not all the streetscaping elements.
Public works director John Wilson acknowledged that the city has not followed standards for handicapped parking and visibility at intersections. He also explained why widening the sidewalks 18 inches would not make the project significantly more expensive.
Changing the project design this late, however, could mean “undoing engineering work,” Wilson said, so the sooner the council made up their mind the better.