Parking structure could be downsized

By RICHARD HANNERS, Whitefish Pilot

"It's like a chess game — you move one piece at a time," Marks said. "You hear people say we should focus on one element at the expense of others. I don't think we need 270 spaces now. We need to focus on moving our public buildings and increasing retail."

The downtown plan

In 2001, a city survey counted 961 on-street parking spaces in the downtown area between the railroad tracks and Fourth Street and from Miles Avenue to Kalispell Avenue.

The 2005 Downtown Master Plan, developed by Portland-based consultants Crandall-Arambula and adopted by the city, calls for creating 740 new parking spaces with four new parking structures — 270 spaces at Spokane and Second, 280 near the O'Shaughnessy Center, 190 at Central and Third and 200 more north of the library.

The plan also calls for increasing retail space downtown by 80 percent to 315,000 square feet and adding 334 new residential units. Constructing a major parking structure at Spokane and Second is one of several "catalyst projects" chosen to help kick-start downtown development.

"A downtown parking facility often serves as a city's 'front door,' leaving a lasting impression on visitors and residents alike," the plan states. "It is simply good business practice to provide public parking that welcomes the shopper and supports the retail environment."

Crandall-Arambula suggested in the downtown plan that a parking problem already exists.

"Parking in downtown Whitefish is at or near capacity, especially during the tourist season," the plan states. Under the heading "opportunities and constraints," the consultants described "a lack of adequate parking" and "limited parking in the core."

The options

Facing funding difficulties and other downtown goals, Marks presented four options for the Spokane and Second site to the city council on Feb. 5:

* Option A, paving the entire half block, would provide 94 spaces, including 41 existing spaces, for a net total of 56. The project would cost about $240,000, including landscaping, but no funding source was identified.

The cost of removing contaminated soil to a depth of 14 feet where the Big Mountain Tire store once sat and filling in the hole will be paid for by the Montana Underground Storage Tank Act, Marks said.

* Option B calls for building an 11,700-square-foot retail structure where the tire store stood. The rest of the site could be paved and landscaped for $200,000, netting 32 spaces.

The city could earn about $1 million by selling the new retail space, Marks said, meaning about $800,000 would be available for purchasing land north of the Whitefish Library for a new city hall. Moving the city hall would free up 32 spaces at the current city hall site, Marks said.

Creating more retail space at Spokane and Second would also generate more money for the city's tax-increment finance (TIF) district.

The new building could also provide space for the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, the Whitefish Visitor and Convention Bureau, or possibly the state's tourism agency. Marks also said a visitor attraction, like a museum, could be located there.

* Option C comes closer to the downtown plan's proposal for a 270-space parking structure.

In phase one, 40 net spaces would be created with basement and ground-floor parking at a cost of $1.1 million. Additional parking floors could be added later, and about $1 million could be earned by creating new retail space.

Phase two would add 189 more spaces and about 8,000 square feet of retail at a cost of $4.7 million.

Marks recommended Option B to the council.

"It will create the most parking in the shortest time, and it will help us move closer to building a new city hall," he said.

Marks said the $800,000 earned in Option B is about 70 percent of the cost of the BNSF land north of the library.

He also said it's possible the buy-sell agreement with BNSF would also include railroad land next to the O'Shaughnessy Center. Councilors had earlier expressed concern that the O'Shaughnessy land is slated for a parking structure in the downtown plan, but it could be bought up by private interests before the city had a chance to act.

Marks told the Pilot a parking structure with 200-plus spaces will eventually be built at the Spokane and Second site — but maybe not right away.

Council actions

The downtown master plan calls for adding 334 new residential units to the downtown area.

Last August, as a step toward implementing the plan, the city council reduced the off-street parking requirement for downtown residential units from 2-to-2.33 spaces per unit to one.

City planning director Bob Horne told the council at the time that many urban areas were making similar changes. People who live in upstairs units downtown have made a "lifestyle choice," he said, and typically they will not need more than one parking space per unit.

Councilor Shirley Jacobson, however, was not swayed.

"I don't know how it can work," she said at the time. "We already have a parking problem downtown — there's no public transportation available, no nearby stores that provide everyday needs. These people will not just sit in their apartments — they'll want to visit."

Competition for downtown parking spaces is between tourists, shoppers and downtown workers — including school staff.

City councilors last year responded to complaints about Whitefish Middle School staff parking on Kalispell Avenue by creating a no-parking zone there.

Noting that the school has more than 40 staff but provides about 20 spaces, councilor Nick Palmer suggested school staff could park in the new parking structure at Spokane and Second.

Marks, however, told the Pilot no official agreement has been reached with the school district about staff parking at the Spokane and Second site.