New skybridge confounds city councilors

Several Whitefish city councilors acknowledged receiving phone calls about the new skybridge over Wisconsin Avenue that connects The Lodge At Whitefish Lake to the new Viking Creek Lodge.

"I'm not sure where I'm heading with this," councilor John Muhlfeld said when he broached the topic during the council's May 3 meeting.

Muhlfeld said it was his understanding that the skybridge was "never intended not to be open to the public" when the council approved the Averills' planned-unit development (PUD) for a bigger project east of Wisconsin Avenue.

The skybridge was intended to address "pedestrian safety," he recalled, and now there was a "blight concern."

"What can we do now?" Muhlfeld asked.

A flaw exists in the architectural review process, he said — some decisions need to come back to the city council for further review.

City attorney John Phelps said he "could look at the paperwork and see if what was promised is what we got."

City planning director David Taylor noted that a PUD is "more conceptual" and doesn't typically address final architectural elements. He also noted that the Averills' PUD did not specify the purpose of the skybridge.

Muhlfeld said he didn't intend to suggest that there was any "mal intent" by the Averills. He also noted that councilors Turner Askew and Nick Palmer had cited possible problems with the city's architectural review process in the past.

Askew said he'd also received some complaints about the skybridge and wanted to see some projects go from the Architectural Review Committee back to the city council.

"It's been called a 'floating single-wide,'" he said.

Councilor Bill Kahle, who also had received phone calls about the skybridge, said his concern was "not form but function."

"The skybridge was supposed to address public safety," he said.

Councilor Phil Mitchell said he looked over the PUD documents at Taylor's office and liked the earlier renditions. The problem, he concluded, is that "it will be here forever."