Council to review downtown 24-hour fitness center

A 24-hour fitness center planned for downtown Whitefish has been given a recommendation of approval from the City Planning Board.

Next Level Fitness is looking to lease the space currently occupied by The Towne Printer at 237 Baker Ave. The heath club currently is located at the Mountain Mall.

Stephanie Elm has applied for a conditional use permit to allow the gym to operate at the Baker location. The property is zoned WB-3.

No expansion of the existing structure is planned, but a facelift to the facade and canopy is proposed. A separate retail space also is proposed for the building.

The gym has a maximum of 250 members. According to Elm, peak hours of use are between 5:30-6:30 a.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m. During those peak hours about 10-15 people will be in the gym.

Hours of operation will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., however there will be a 24-hour keypad entry system available to members.

The site includes three angled parking spaces and one parallel space.

Planning board members questioned if the gym would stress downtown parking, but ultimately decided parking was a citywide issue not specific to the application.

“The parking uses for Towne Printer are different than for the health club,” board member Frank Sweeney said. “Those spaces won’t be turning over as often, but that’s our problem and one we need to think about.”

Whitefish City Council will review the permit at its Jan. 5 meeting at 7:10 p.m. at City Hall.

Towne Printer owner Shawn Tucker says the printing business is considering a new location on Spokane Avenue if the fitness center project moves forward.

Towne Printer has been in business in Whitefish for more than 50 years. According to Tucker, when the print shop expanded its production processes to a larger facility in Kalispell, it freed up space at the Whitefish location that’s no longer needed.