New Boardwalk plan cuts density, adds water filtration

Less housing density, bigger buffer zones, reduced wetlands disturbance and a filtration system for runoff water are among the new features of a revamped Boardwalk at Whitefish Lake project.

Whitefish planners and the public will take a look at the new plans during a public hearing Thursday. The planning board is expected to make a final recommendation on the project.

After neighbors lambasted the project last month - citing problems with drainage, density, wetlands and traffic - developer Bayard Dominick vowed to rework plans for the 41-acre resort development off Wisconsin Avenue on Whitefish's north side.

"I've said from the get-go we'll do this responsibly and will address the concerns raised," said Dominick, the managing partner for Lake Cabins.

As an extra measure of assurance for neighbors, Dominick said that if the project is approved, he'll make an additional presentation to the Whitefish City Council before breaking ground to assure the public that all conditions of approval have been met.

"I don't want people to think we're going forward in reckless abandon once it's approved," he said.

Dominick initially wanted to build 167 residential units, mostly condominiums, on property split into two pieces: a 38-acre tract of land east of Wisconsin Avenue and 3 acres on the west side of the road along Whitefish Lake. A commercial element of the project included a bar and restaurant on the lakeside property and a spa/clubhouse, recreation center, pool and sales office on the east side of Wisconsin.

The new Boardwalk project drops the number of dwelling units to 104 and cuts the density from four to 2.6 units per acre. That, in turn, bumps up the open space to 78 percent of the entire project.

All of the nonresidential buildings have been taken out of the east side of the project. The spa/clubhouse will be relocated to the west side; the sales office, pool and rec center have been eliminated.

Dominick and his design consultants approached drainage issues in a number of ways. The buffer on the north side has been increased from 20 to 40 feet, allowing for preservation of 85 percent of the existing trees, and on the east side, the strip of forest increases from 30 feet to at least 100 feet. The project will also retain a forested zone of 160 to 300 feet along Wisconsin Avenue.

"Extending these buffer areas will help the drainage," Dominick said.

Several other measures are proposed to help channel water through the property. Streamside setbacks will increase from 20 to 40 feet, and restoration to creeks flowing through the property will create cascading areas for fisheries, he said.

Dominick said he's talked to neighboring landowner Margaret Murdock, who has put property to the north of Boardwalk into conservation easements, about extending creekbed restoration to her property.

"She's interested," he said.

Dwelling units have been repositioned on the east side of Wisconsin. Cabins will go to the north and townhomes to the south to create more open space through the middle of the project. Affordable-housing units were dropped from the project to financially compensate for less density. The amount of wetlands disturbed drops from 2.8 acres to less than half an acre, Dominick said.

The use of all-native plants will be written into the resort's covenants, eliminating the need for irrigation and herbicides.

The drainage kingpin comes in the form of a mechanical water filtration system through which all runoff water will be pumped before it re-enters the streamflow to Whitefish Lake.

The amount of impervious surface in the project has also been decreased by 43 percent to improve drainage.

Reducing the overall density of the project also should reduce traffic by about a third, Dominick said. And combining all the commercial elements of the project on the lake side should decrease the pedestrian traffic across Wisconsin Avenue, he added.

Lakeside Lodge, a bar, restaurant and condominium hotel proposed on 270 feet of lake frontage, will shrink from 95,000 to 75,000 square feet. The new Boardwalk plan reduces the footprint of the lodge, creates larger setbacks from the lake and re-establishes the historic creek that was put underground through a culvert many decades ago.

The spa/clubhouse will be located above the parking lot on the west side.

Boardwalk developers want concessions on height - they want a height variance of 55 feet - and parking - 140 spaces are required to meet the letter of the law, but Dominick said 60 spaces should suffice. A resort shuttle is proposed.

The project will retain a public trail system through the property, and Dominick has offered to let the city use his property to bring a bike path off the highway and into the wooded buffer zone.

"The net result of all of this is a less dense, more environmentally friendly resort community," he summarized.

The planning-board meeting begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at Whitefish City Hall.

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