Businesses sound off at neighborhood meetings

A series of neighborhood meetings hosted this month by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce served as a venue for business and community leaders to sound off on and learn about issues facing the city.

“All of the meetings were different,” said chamber director Kevin Gartland. “We have many diverse businesses in town. They all have different needs and different perspectives.”

All businesses were invited to join the round-table discussions that focused on Highway 93 South, downtown, Wisconsin Avenue and Highway 93 West.

“The whole intent was to hear about what’s going on in each neighborhood,” Gartland said. “We had no agenda other than to find out about business conditions.”

The Highway 93 West meeting mostly centered on the creation of affordable housing for Whitefish’s workforce.

“Housing is a huge issue,” said Karen Baker, general manager at Grouse Mountain Lodge.

She said many of her employees commute from Columbia Falls or even as far as Coram. She said it’s been difficult to hire locally, which was one reason the lodge recently raised their wages.

Ann Shaw Moran noted the lack of rentals in Whitefish.

“The rental stock is nonexistent,” she said. “Can people live and work here? We need to make sure we have the bedrock of what makes a community.”

Others noted failed attempts to add affordable housing, and pointed to the recently proposed 2nd Street Apartments project that neighbors protested and city council rejected. The project originally called for 174 units with 17 going to the city housing authority.

“The people of Whitefish want affordable housing — but not in their neighborhood,” former councilor Turner Askew noted.

The Highway 93 South meeting focused mostly on zoning and land use issues.

“They’re looking forward to seeing a corridor study,” Gartland said.

Another hot topic for the group centered on a perceived lack of investment by the city of Whitefish in the Highway 93 South area.

“They’re concerned about the equity in investment in comparing downtown to their end of town,” Gartland explained.

Discussions at the downtown meeting were dominated by parking issues, Gartland said. Support for the planned parking structure was divided.

“They were split on whether it was needed and how to pay for it,” Gartland said. “They were split down the line on all of it.”

Another area of concern was the appearance of downtown. The group discussed ways to keep the streets clear of litter and other debris.

Businesses along Wisconsin Avenue discussed ideas to bring more attention to the north side of the viaduct.

“There are some great businesses out there, but they feel like they are forgotten,” Gartland said.

The group discussed the possibility of hosting more events that will draw people across the tracks.

Gartland said the Chamber Board of Directors will review comments made by each group at their next meeting.

“The board will come up with some action items,” Gartland said. “We’re hoping some of these larger issues get some traction.”

The chamber plans to host another round of neighborhood meetings this fall.