Citing its lack of compatibility with downtown, Whitefish City Council Tuesday denied a proposal by Fresh Life Church to construct a mixed-use building on Central Avenue.

It’s an issue that drew about 170 letters prior to the meeting and resulted in about an hour of public comment to council, with community members falling on both sides.

Councilor Richard Hildner estimated that he spent more time on the request than on any other during his tenure on council.

“I was stuck by seeing names of my friends and neighbors on both sides of this,” he said.

Council voted 5-1 to deny the request by the church for a conditional-use permit that sought to construct a new 11,200-square-foot mixed-use building on Central Avenue on three city lots that includes the property where Lakestream Fly Shop stood for many years at 334 Central Ave. Councilor Katie Williams voted against the denial.

John Mark Creamer, operations pastor at Fresh Life, presented the church’s plans noting the building would include several retail spaces along Central Avenue and a church set to the back of the building. He said the church planned to sell the retail spaces to for-profit businesses that he claimed would generate more than $18,000 in annual property-tax revenue.

“The split-level design was not intended to circumvent requirements that a church not be on ground level,” he said.

The church also offered to adjust its service times to help alleviate parking concerns, with two other nearby churches already meeting on Sundays.

“The church attendees will be downtown visiting stores and restaurants,” he said, pointing out that the Fresh Life congregation could benefit Whitefish.

Council disagreed, however, that the church was the right fit. Topping the list concerns seemed to be the building’s lack of retail space to be in compliance with the WB-3 zoning and the city’s downtown master plan.

The building was planned to include several retail spaces along Central, and the church in the back in a space 7 feet below ground.

Hilnder said the city’s downtown master plan calls for edge-to-edge retail, and the building design does not put commercial or multi-family residential units above the ground floor retail.

“This is not in compliance with the growth policy,” he said. “The church portion precludes full use of the building in a way that would strengthen downtown.”

Parking also remained a concern with council noting that the project doesn’t address concerns regarding the availability of parking adequate to serve the congregation without impacting neighboring businesses and residential areas.

During public comment, most who spoke said downtown is not the right location for the church.

“Fresh Life is a great addition to Whitefish, but not here,” said Turner Askew. “They need to be out on Highway 93 where they can have room to grow.”

Tim Murphy, whose State Farm Insurance agency operates next door to the planned building, agreed.

“Is this the highest and best use of the last premium spot in downtown?” he asked.

Speaking in favor of the church’s proposal, Colton Born, pastor Fresh Life’s Whitefish campus, asked council to consider what the building could add to the community.

“It adds life to the downtown,” he said. “This is our attempt to grow and inject life into the community.”

A conditional-use permit is required for buildings larger than 7,500-square-feet in the downtown. The Old Town Central District zoning doesn’t allow a church at ground-level.

Fresh Life was founded in Kalispell in 2007 by the Rev. Levi Lusko and has since expanded to include campuses across Montana and out-of-state. In Kalispell, it has purchased several historic buildings and is also constructing a building downtown. In addition, it purchased the Montana Building in Kalispell in 2016 and canceled leases with business tenants there.