The Whitefish City Council approved updating some of the city’s parking ordinances at its most recent meeting to prohibit parking in certain areas, including along a stretch of Shiloh Avenue, where some nearby residents have complained about overflow parking from the Don K Whitefish car dealership.
Councilors Giuseppe Caltabiano, Frank Sweeney, Ben Davis and Andy Feury all voted in favor of the new parking restrictions. Councilors Steve Qunell, Rebecca Norton and Mayor John Muhlfeld were absent from the meeting.
The first of the four updated parking ordinances approved by the council is for East Eighth Street, where no parking will be allowed on either side between Spokane Avenue and Kalispell Avenue. In a staff report, Public Works Director Craig Workman described the area as a busy section of East Eighth Street which serves as an ingress and egress for a variety of businesses, in addition to a busy neighborhood. Vehicles parked in the area restrict traffic movements in and out of the alley, which is frequented by large delivery trucks, and parked vehicles also cause congestion at the intersection of East Eighth Street and Spokane Avenue, according to Workman.
Another updated ordinance was approved for Karrow Avenue to prohibit parking on either side between West Second Street and West Seventh Street. The staff report states that with Karrow Avenue currently under construction, it seems appropriate to update parking restrictions in the area in anticipation of its reopening in September. The reconstruction project underway was prompted by heavy vehicular traffic volume, unsuitable roadway conditions, and the need for a bike and pedestrian connection between West Second Street and West Seventh Street.
On Woodside Lane, the council approved an ordinance for no parking within 100 feet of Wisconsin Avenue. That ordinance was recommended by city staff because people parking in the area in question can block the vision of those who are turning on or off Woodside Lane. This also creates considerable traffic on Wisconsin Avenue for those waiting to turn onto Woodside Lane.
The Shiloh Avenue parking restrictions, which prohibit parking between JP Road and Whitefish Avenue, were brought to the council’s attention earlier this summer by neighbors who had grown frustrated with parking from Don K employees in the area. The city staff report noted that although the roadway is wide enough to safely allow parking on one side of the street, the lane widths become constricted in the winter with the parking that takes place. Additionally, staff noted that this area will become a busier north-south corridor with the completion of the first phase of the Snow Mountain subdivision. That 29-lot subdivision, intended to include 48 townhomes, was approved by the council in October 2022, and calls for extending Shiloh Avenue north until it connects to Whitefish Avenue. Construction is expected to start later in July, and Workman told the council he expects the roadwork on the project to be completed later this fall.
Although the council approved an ordinance prohibiting parking along Shiloh between JP Road and Whitefish Avenue, it also voted to push back the date that goes into effect until Nov. 1. The extension was asked for by Kevin Kaltschmidt, the general manager at Don K, who said that the dealership is in the midst of plans to increase inventory storage on the west side of U.S. Highway 93, and that they are scheduled to have a hearing before the council on the conditional use permit for those plans in about a month. Kaltschmidt said the area doesn’t have heavy traffic right now, and noted that there is another access to the Snow Mountain subdivision construction site from the west.
“While this is all happening, we’d like to have a little bit more time, because there’s not really anywhere to park at this point in time,” Kaltschmidt said.