Board shoots down request on parking lot for Firebrand

The Whitefish Planning Board last week unanimously recommended denial of a request to create more parking space at the Firebrand Hotel, citing concerns over history with the hotel’s developers.

The Whitefish Hotel Group is seeking to amend the Whitefish zoning map to convert a residential lot on Kalispell Avenue for parking.

Board member John Ellis walked through the history of the Firebrand Hotel’s public process for a conditional use permit, noting how he and others were assured long ago that parking for the hotel would not be an issue.

“They came here and they told us, ‘Parking will not be a problem. We’ve got it covered.’ The board was very concerned about the parking situation but they assured us, there is no problem,” Ellis said. “I think the board has the right to take in the veracity and truthfulness of the people who come before us over whether we should believe them.”

Ellis also said the developers have plenty of opportunities for using the properties in question without turning them into parking spaces.

Denying the rezoning request is not denying the developer’s rights to use their property, he said.

“We’re not stopping [the owner] from developing his property and making a lot of money. He can build three lots worth of multi-family housing, condominium housing that he can make a whole lot of money on, so we’re not interfering with his property rights. The main thing that I want to say is that once we break the perimeter of our downtown residential area by letting one person have a commercial zoning on Kalispell Avenue, we can never stop another one,” he said.

Janice McCann, a neighbor to the Firebrand, agreed, saying keeping the parking lot from being built is key to keeping “chaos” out of the neighborhood.

“Right now we have a peaceful family neighborhood, and we don’t want to extend the chaos into this side of town that’s already occurring in the other residential neighborhoods in Whitefish,” she said. “Please preserve some of this integrity.”

The lot is at 224 Kalispell Avenue and is currently empty. The Whitefish Hotel Group is proposing to change the zoning to WB-3 with special conditions, which is a blended zone that retains all the permitted uses of the existing WR-4 with the additional permitted use of hotel accessory parking.

The change would allow the Firebrand Hotel to add 16 additional off-street parking spaces. Plans show a 20-foot landscaped buffer along Kalispell Avenue and a 5-foot landscaped buffer along the southern boundary.

While Kalispell Avenue is generally a residential neighborhood, adding parking in this particular location has minimal impacts to adjacent residential uses as there is an existing church facility directly across Kalispell, planning staff notes in their report. Planning staff is recommending approval with 12 conditions.

The request is set to go before City Council for a vote during its Aug. 6 meeting at City Hall.