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NEWS
August Visitation in Glacier Dipped Due to Wildfire Closures The year-to-date visitation remains slightly ahead of last year’s record-breaking pace
BY BEACON STAFF
Wildfires burning in and around Glacier National Park likely played a part in a decline in visitation last month.
An estimated 579,000 people visited Glacier in August, a 14 percent decline over last year, according to National Park Service statistics. It was the second low- est total for August in six years. Last year saw 675,119 people in August, the most on record for the month. August is typically the second busiest month in the year behind July.
The year-to-date visitation remains slightly ahead of last year’s record-breaking pace. A total of 1.91 million people have visited the national park so far, 2 percent more than a year ago.
The dip in visitation came as wildfires burned across
Scorched trees along Going-to-the-Sun Road after the Reynolds Creek Fire burned in the St. Mary region of Glacier National Park.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
the region, including in the park. The Sheep Fire near Essex led to the temporary shut down of U.S. High- way 2 and the evacuation of residents in the area. Fires burning in theThompson-Divide Complex have charred nearly 19,000 acres in the park, mostly in remote back- country sections.
There were roughly 20,000 fewer visitors at Walton/ Goat Lick, a 52 percent decline for the month. Visitation at Two Medicine was down nearly 16 percent, or 6,000 people. The West Entrance saw an estimated 33,000 fewer people than last year. Saint Mary’s visitation dipped 20 percent, or 30,000 people.
Yellowstone National Park also remains on track to have one of its highest number of annual visitor counts. The park saw more than 854,000 recreational visits in August, an increase of 10 percent over August 2014.
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Group Sues Kalispell Over Parking District Near Flathead High Lawsuit claims new parking restrictions fail to reduce congestion
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
A group of residents is suing the city
of Kalispell over the new parking district in the neighborhood near Flathead High School, claiming the permitting system fails to adequately reduce congestion.
Attorneys Sean Frampton and Johnna Preble filed a complaint in Flat- head County District Court Sept. 2 on behalf of the Westside Neighbors Asso- ciation, Inc., a newly formed organization initially made up of three residents. The group is asking the court to throw out the current parking district and force the city to re-establish a district that solves the “traffic, safety, and over-parking issues in the neighborhood,” according to court documents.
A request for a substitute judge was filed Sept. 8. District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht was slated to hear the case. Ulbricht served as Kalispell’s judge for
municipal court from 1994-2002 before being elected to district court.
The group is requesting a jury trial.
The lawsuit is the latest in a conten- tious saga involving parking around Flat- head High School and Elrod Elementary School. Residents have long complained of congested streets, diminished prop- erty values and safety hazards due to the influx of students and staff parking in the area throughout the school year.
The Kalispell City Council formally adopted Ordinance 1759 on Aug. 3, establishing a 15-block parking district that allowed students and staff from the high school to purchase parking passes along with residents. The council voted 5-2 on July 21 in favor of the district. The approved district was different than previous proposals, including an alterna- tive that sought a five-block district that would exclude students and staff from purchasing passes.
As of Sept. 9, students and staff had purchased 22 passes and 122 residen- tial passes were issued, according to city officials. Each resident in the district can receive two free parking passes. Passes are $25 apiece.
Police officers have been issuing warn- ings to vehicles without passes and began ticketing offenders Sept. 11.
lingering issues.
Devin Kuntz, a resident in the neigh-
borhood who led many of the efforts to address congestion, disagreed with the lawsuit’s claims. He said it was too early to make any hard judgments about the district, but his first impression is that it has improved the situation.
“As a resident in the area, compared to whereitwas,I’mquitepleasedwithwhere it’s gone,” he said. “It seems pretty effec- tive. The streets seem fairly uncongested
To help alleviate congestion in the
neighborhood, Kalispell School Dis-
trict #5 rearranged part of its campus
and added over 20 parking spaces at the compared to what they were before.”
high school, according to superintendent Mark Flatau. Another 15 spaces were added at Elrod.
The lawsuit claims that the streets near the high school remain congested. The lawsuit claims that the congestion has resulted in emergency vehicles and snow plows being blocked or hindered in their performance in the past, and that property values have dropped due to the
The district, known as the Westside Neighborhood Parking Management Zone, features parking restrictions for Second Avenue West between Sixth and Ninth streets west; Third Avenue West between Fifth and Ninth streets west; Fourth Avenue West between Eighth and Ninth streets west; and all streets between Fourth Avenue and Second Avenue West.
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