Council approves expansion for academy

Whitefish Christian Academy has received city approval to expand its current building on Ashar Avenue.

City Council on Oct. 7 approved a conditional use permit to allow the school to add about 11,000-square feet to its building. Additions are set to include a two-story classroom, administration area, bathroom area and an gym/auditorium.

Due to increased usage, the Public Works Department is requiring as part of the project that East Eighth Street be upgraded to a two-way street with curb and gutter on both sides, and also include a sidewalk with a 6-foot boulevard on one side of the road.

City Council also added a condition to the CUP that the school would be responsible for installing the necessary street lights along East Eighth Street when it is reconstructed. It was estimated that the section of street would require roughly four lights.

In representing the academy, TD&H Engineer Doug Peppmeier said the school understands the need to upgrade the street and would be happy to install the conduit necessary for installation of the street lights at a later date, but it would rather not have to pay for the lights. The cost was estimated at up to $7,000 per light.

“This is going to be a chunk of change for the school to swallow with [reconstructing] Eighth Street and the school understands that,” he said. “It’s one thing to raise funds for a school, it’s a little harder to raise it for asphalt. We also understand that this part of school is hard to get around.”

Councilor Richard Hildner said the street lights are an important part of reconstructing the street.

“I understand the need to save money wherever possible,” he said. “But at certain times of the year particularly in winter, the street lighting is necessary for public safety.”

The project would reroute traffic. Currently, traffic enters and exists off Ashar Avenue, while employees use a paved area on the building’s north side off East Eighth Street, which runs one-way westward.

The project instead would remove the north entrance to the school and route parent and student traffic onto East Eighth Street. Employee traffic would enter and exit on either Ashar or Park Avenue into a new parking lot to the west, and the north side parking lot would be removed.

The new parking lot planned to the west side of the building and an expanded parking area to the east of the building will provide a total of 84 parking spaces, which meets the city’s parking standard.

In 2014, City Council allowed the school to add two temporary classrooms to the west during a planned expansion. Those classrooms, added in 2015, will be removed by fall of 2021.

Council also:

- Approved, on a split vote of 4-2, a minor lakeshore variance to reduce the required side setback for installation of a shore station within the lakeshore protection zone for a property located at 1716 West Lakeshore Drive. Councilors Richard Hildner and Andy Feury voted against the variance, which was requested by the property owners Robert and Catherine Seeman.

The owners requested installing a 10 1/2 foot by 12-foot boat lift shore station without a canopy to better protect their boat and dock due to wind directions on the lake. Their property is only 50 feet wide and the required setback distance for a shore station to a side property line is 25 feet, so they were not able to install the shore station without a variance.

- Approved a conditional use permit request from Matt Dandford to construct an accessory apartment at 1047 Columbia Avenue.

- Approved a request from Courtland Chlemo for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment at 725 Riverside Avenue.