Preschool expansion OK'd; East Sixth next up for rebuild

The Whitefish City Council voted unanimously in favor of granting a conditional use permit for the expansion of Whitefish Community School located at 805 Park Avenue. Councilor Ben Davis recused himself from the vote. 

The school currently provides daycare, but the expansion will allow it to become a daycare center which allows for more than 15 children. The proposed changes include five additional parking spaces, a turnaround and a student drop-off area. 

The school also plans to construct a portable classroom of less than 2,000 square feet.

Councilor Andy Feury asked about the maximum number of students allowed at the daycare, a concern which had been voiced at the Community Development Board meeting last month.

“The length of the drop-off area determines how many children can be in the school,” said Whitefish City Planner Nelson Loring. 

Loring said city code prevents more than 32 students with the current plan and any changes in the future would have to come back to the council for review. 

"Our waitlist has averaged at least 120 families for the past three to four years,” Community School Director Jesse Diehl said. “As one of the few nonprofit childcares in the valley, we see it as our duty to meet the community’s needs as best we can.”

Five members of the public spoke, all in favor of the expansion, although Paul McCann did outline some of his concerns about the alley, lighting, the retaining wall and the construction of the portable classroom.

Doug Peppmeier of TD&H Engineering said the alley is 24-feet wide, the retaining wall must be tiered, and the classroom would be stick frame construction, not modular. 

"All of our streetlights are dark sky compliant ... and we have the same requirement in the zoning code for any of the building lighting that would be going on the structure,” added Whitefish Public Works Director Craig Workman. “We wouldn’t be doing any streetlights as part of this project.” 

At the Community Development Board’s public hearing on July 18, seven people spoke. Two were in favor of the project and five voiced concerns about traffic, snow storage, access, noise and the environment. The board voted unanimously to recommend the permit. 

THE COUNCIL VOTED unanimously to award the engineering contract for the East Sixth Street reconstruction project to HDR and the Armory Road reconstruction project to Morrison-Maierle. After interviewing three firms that submitted proposals for the projects, the selection panel unanimously agreed HDR and Morrison-Maierle should be awarded the contracts. 

The East Sixth Street and Armory Road reconstruction projects were selected as the next projects on the resort tax priority list. 

“Both of these projects have road surface concerns, lack bicycle and pedestrian amenities, and have significant safety concerns during school drop off and pick up,” Workman said.

Whitefish resident Skyler Johnston and a few of his neighbors on Armory Road expressed concerns about the Armory Road project. 

“I can share with you numerous photos and first-hand accounts of all the cars and trucks and trailers that have run off the road on that corner,” said Johnston. “But I’m sure you are all aware of how dangerous that corner is, especially in the winter.” 

Johnston and his neighbors wanted to be sure they could share their thoughts and concerns before the project is underway.

Workman explained that it is likely the East Sixth Street project will be constructed first. He said the complexity of the Armory Road project, and the $7 million estimate for construction will make it difficult to fund Armory Road next summer. 

“We’ve obviously heard from a number of residents tonight that feel very passionate about Armory and being involved in the project and we have every intention of making that happen,” Workman said. “We’ve already talked about how to begin that public outreach project.” 

He added that trial tests on the curve on Armory were being considered to make it safer. 

Workman said the preliminary budget for fiscal year 2025 includes $2.5 million for resort tax roadway construction projects, including $1 million to finish work on Karrow Avenue this summer, and about $1.5 million to begin preliminary design on the East Sixth Street and Armory Road projects. 

WHITEFISH RESIDENT and property owner Patrick Tabor addressed the council to ask for a change in the recently modified parking regulations that affected Woodside Lane. Tabor said the new rule eliminating parking on Woodside Lane within 100 feet of Wisconsin Avenue would cause his tenants at 309 Wisconsin to have trouble parking. He added that he understands the safety concerns. 

Councilor Guiseppe Caltabiano pulled the item from the consent agenda and Workman was consulted about the parking. He recommended no parking on the north side of Woodside Lane year-round. 

The council voted unanimously to amend the ordinance so there will be no parking on the north side of Woodside Lane within 100 feet of Wisconsin Avenue. 

THE COUNCIL voted unanimously to approve a conditional use permit for a guesthouse to be built at 3 Tides Way. Davis recused himself for this hearing, too. 

Sierra McCartney, daughter of the applicant, said the guesthouse would be used by her mother as the family would like a multi-generational property. McCartney’s sister and her family live in the main house. 

Feury and Caltabiano commented about the benefits of having children, parents and grandparents living together. Feury said he, too, had a house for his mother on his property and called it “a wonderful experience.”  

“It’s good to see multi-generational families taking care of each other,” Caltabiano said. “I grew up in a country where that’s normal.”