Nearly two years after it began the process of updating the original 2006 Whitefish Downtown Master Plan, the city of Whitefish still is working toward approval of the revisions and has scheduled a public meeting Wednesday, March 12.

The 7 p.m. meeting at the O’Shaughnessy Center likely will be the last public meeting before the Whitefish City Council holds a final public hearing later this spring.

Representatives of Crandall Arambula, the Portland consulting firm that drafted the initial downtown plan, will attend the meeting. If adopted, the revised plan will become an amendment to the Whitefish growth policy.

The proposed update outlines four key high-priority projects, the first of which already is moving forward. No. 1 on the list is a new City Hall and parking structure at the existing City Hall site on the northeast corner of Baker Avenue and Second Street. 

In January the City Council selected Helena-based Mosaic Architecture to design the $11.5 million facility and agreed to begin contract negotiations with the firm.

A multi-level parking structure at the current city surface lot at the northwest corner of Spokane Avenue and Second Street is the second project on the high-priority list. The master plan calls for ground-floor commercial storefronts along Spokane and First Street East. The idea of a parking garage at this corner has been around for many years, but the city opted for a surface lot in anticipation of the economic downturn.

A streetscape and roadway improvements for Baker Avenue between Railway and Second Street is third on the list. The plan states that improvements should enhance pedestrian traffic while maintaining “acceptable auto and truck mobility.”

A multipurpose paved plaza at the southwest corner of Depot Park is a fourth high-priority recommendation in the updated master plan.

The plan lists a second tier of priority projects, including expanding the downtown streetscape design farther south on Central Avenue and into the Railway District. It suggests an anchor site in the Railway District that could be a mixed-use development that included a parking structure, retail and residential uses.

Replacing the current city parking lot at Third and Central — across the street from First Presbyterian Church — with a retail use and finding replacement parking are other priorities.

The plan recommends a mixed-use lodging complex featuring a hotel and retail development in an L-shaped site north of First Street where Markus Foods and other businesses currently are located.

The decision to embark on the master plan update didn’t come easily for the council. Mayor John Muhlfeld broke a tie vote in April 2012 to proceed with just the first of three phases proposed by Crandall Arambula. In November 2012 the council amended the contract with the consultants to include a broader scope of work, for a total of $69,654.

That work was completed and an open house on the proposed update was held in May 2013. In October the council held a public hearing, then tabled discussion and decided to schedule a work session, which was held in November.

At the work session the council requested that Crandell Arambula do additional work to change and complete the update. The council agreed to pay $37,300 for the extra work, bringing the total plan update cost to $106,954. 

The most recent version of the downtown master plan update can be viewed or downloaded on the city’s website at www.cityofwhitefish.org/other-services/local-events.php. 

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.