Downtown parking lot will stay, for now

Business owners along the south end of Central Avenue say the city parking lot at the corner of Third Street and Central is vital to the success of their operations.

Rick Nelson, owner of Nelson’s Hardware, said his business relies on the lot and that parking in another location would not be as valuable. A hardware store’s needs are different from that of a restaurant or retail shop, he notes.

“They rely on parking for their customers for two hours,” he said. “We rely on our ability to get people in and out and get what they need. We have a lot of customers that rely on that lot. They need to be close enough to buy a gallon of paint.”

A discussion of the possibility of selling or leasing the parking lot was the topic of discussion at Whitefish City Council’s work session last week. There are 44 parking spaces in the .37 acre lot. The lot was purchased through a special improvement district that assessed business owners with the purpose of providing parking downtown.

Marilyn Nelson, who also owns Nelson’s, said Whitefish has become a victim of its own success with parking lots full with visitors.

“Are we going to accommodate the businesses that serve people’s everyday needs or are we a tourist town?” she asked.

Lani Johnson, owner of the Hair Hut, said the parking lot is important for everyday business, but it also becomes an overflow lot when parking lots at the north end of Central Avenue fill during events.

“This a senior-friendly town and people need to be able to park,” she said. “People need to get to the hardware store.”

City Manager Chuck Stearns said the plan to sell or lease the lot for development is part of the city’s Downtown Master Plan to create a retail anchor. The plan also says that development of the parking lot for another use should not occur unless replacement parking has been secured.

“When people get to Third they look down the block and say, ‘there’s not enough to bring me down there,’” he said. “Developing the lot would be about filling the gaps in retail because people don’t like to traverse the gaps.”

The city was recently contacted by two developers interested in purchasing the lot, according to Stearns. In the past a boutique hotel has been talked about at the site with replacement parking coming from the development of parking lots on Baker Avenue.

Council quickly decided it would hold onto the lot for the time being.

“To give up any parking at this time would be irresponsible,” Councilor Jen Frandsen said.

“I don’t think we should jump the gun before we open the parking structure,” Councilor Katie Williams said. “We can always revisit the option later.”

Mayor John Muhlfeld noted that the 2005 Downtown Master Plan called for about 700 parking spaces for a full build-out of the downtown core. He pointed to the recent loses of parking spaces at Block 46 to the construction of the Firebrand Hotel and the potential development of the lot south of Craggy Range as proof that replacement parking would be even more important. The city’s parking garage attached to the new City Hall is set to be completed in spring 2017 and would add 212 parking spaces to downtown.

“We can’t call the parking structure replacement parking — when that’s finished we will net 50 total spaces,” he said. “Things have changed. We can’t event consider this without replacement parking.”

Chris Hyatt said removing the parking lot at Third and Central it would be detrimental to the value of the nearby properties.

“If you put another lot down by the Post Office nobody is going to walk that far,” he said. “We need to see where everything ends up and then revisit it later.”

Rebecca Norton urged Council to keep the parking lot, calling the corner a “respite of downtown.”

“People gather in that area,” she said. “From Sweet Peaks to the benches on the corner to the [First Presbyterian] Church. We’re not just here for the tourists. We need to protect our community.”