Concerns about hotel

We have grave concerns about the boutique hotel being proposed for Block 46 in downtown Whitefish.

The Averills have done a great job with The Lodge at Whitefish Lake and it remains one of our favorite places to eat. This letter is in no way derogatory toward the Averill family.

However, there are too many unanswerable questions to give the project the green light. Our concerns are as follows:

1. There is already a big parking problem downtown. Block 46 has on any given day at least 35-45 cars parked on it. People use this lot to park to do their downtown shopping, as well as staff for downtown businesses.

2. The proposed hotel is offering 67 parking spots for 89 rooms. In our many years of owning hotels, the general bare minimum of parking has always been 1.5 spots per room. It goes without saying there are a lot of people, including their guests and certainly their staff, who will not have anywhere to park, and will affect an already serious parking shortage downtown. In addition, this will be a huge headache for the residents nearby.

3. The wait for the light at Spokane Avenue and Second Street will be worse than it is now. We have waited for two to three light changes at times. Obviously, this will not get better with the reduction in parking spots and the addition of yet more traffic.

4. In the event this project is approved, who is going to pay to re-route traffic to avoid the traffic jam that it will cause? The taxpayer who might be asked to pitch in to help finance this project? Or will it be the present downtown businesses that have had their business severely impacted by this project and its addition to the lack of parking?

5. What will this huge parking shortage do to the character of downtown Whitefish when cars are cruising around and around the area like sharks looking for a parking spot, such as it has become the norm in southern California? This is already happening now and I know people who no longer shop downtown because they can not park.

6. A hotel generally has an outlet for the consumption of alcohol. Quite a few years ago the city council turned down an application for a bar and casino at the Downtowner. Why are you even considering allowing a hotel right across the street from Whitefish Middle School?

7. We understand that the developers are considering franchising the hotel with one of the many chains. How will this impact the current sign regulations of the city of Whitefish that surely do not allow the size of sign required by the chain hotels? And what would a larger sign do to the character of downtown Whitefish?

8. Finally, is the present infrastructure able to handle what is a big increase in use to our water, sewer, etc? Surely the taxpayers can not be expected to pay for changes that may need to be made? We already have the highest water and sewer rates in the valley!

— Rick Kratz, Whitefish