A vision for something better on West Second
It’s a sad day for any small community when the loud voices of a few create a hostile environment for needed improvement and investment.
Case in point: An exhaustive recent two-year corridor study overwhelmingly supported the creation of an artisan manufacturing corridor on the north side of Highway 93 West. Despite this, a handful who opposed even the addition of a crosswalk were able to block Whitefish from building a better future.
What was at stake? Transforming West Second Street from its current state of largely dilapidated and abandoned rentals into an inviting and vibrant entryway for Whitefish.
The study specifically supported a microbrewery that provided increased public access to the Whitefish River and adjacent trails with reasonable limitations on hours and consumption consistent with state law.
Our family has lived on the same property on Second Street for over 75 years and has been witness to the thousands of cars and semi-trucks and dozens of trains that pass by every day. The neighborhood has changed and the traffic and noise alone has prompted a transition from residential to something better.
This is especially true on the larger lots to the north which are sandwiched between industrial zoning, the railroad, and Highway 93.
Opposition to the proposed plan complained that a microbrewery would introduce noise, smell, parking issues and even rats. The study group evaluated every complaint and deemed them either without merit or insignificant.
Outrageous accusations of microbrewery patrons being able to drink “gallons of beer” or being a “backdoor to a bar” were introduced into testimony. These few also presented “testimony” to the nature of West Second Street as being a nice residential neighborhood, with young families moving in and children playing in the street.
After the chairman of the study testified in favor of the study’s findings, the same few continued to oppose local job development and pressure board and council members to change the findings of the study in order to add restrictions that would prevent any production of alcohol and shutter most businesses.
The result of these few treacherous voices is to make any business impossible on West Second, unless you consider a daycare facility with a five child limit to be a viable business. Is it now wrong to create local jobs and make money in Whitefish if you are not on Central Avenue?
We are about to open a home for homeless high school students in our city in part because the parents of these kids can’t find work in Whitefish. Building a corridor of condos will not alleviate this problem!
Most disturbing, however, was the blatant harassment and suggestions of impropriety against volunteer board members and allegations of incompetence directed at city staff who disagreed with the opposition.
Referencing the opinion of the city of Missoula attorney, one opponent from Kalispell even had the audacity to demand that board and council members who own property on Highway 93 recuse themselves of voting.
None of the opposition actually live on Second Street, and therefore aren’t witness to the decline of the neighborhood. They don’t have the vision to realize that we have the capacity to create something better here.
The consequences of their actions are the loss of respectful civil discourse, and the inability to express difference of opinion free of intimidation and harassment. The real loser is not the fate of the proposed microbrewery, or the forfeiture of its potential to create jobs — the unfortunate loser is the real heart of Whitefish.
— Lola Zinke, Whitefish