Proceed slowly along the Boardwalk
The property targeted for the 167-unit Boardwalk at Whitefish Lake project is sacred ground to many Whitefish residents.
It's open space in the high-growth Wisconsin Avenue corridor, and it's home to plenty of wildlife. While those are nice amenities in an urban setting, they're not crucial in the neighbors' argument to preserve the land. The real reason to keep it as is, they maintain, is that it's a pivotal link in the drainage of water - both surface and groundwater - that flows from the Big Mountain area into Whitefish Lake.
To upset the hydrology of that area is to upset the delicate balance of nature on which many surrounding developments already depend, opponents of the project pointed out at last week's initial public hearing. Historically, that tract of land has filtered runoff water before it reaches the lake.
About a third of the acreage is wetlands, and Whitefish old-timers are quick to point out that water tables are still suffering from the effects of the recent years-long drought. Boardwalk developers need to realize the property is usually much wetter than it is right now, longtime residents warn.
Even the name of the project is linked to water. Cottages and condominium units planned on the site would be connected by a series of boardwalks to negotiate the soggy areas.
Developer Bayard Dominick will be required to replace any wetlands that are disturbed, and he's considering putting a sizable portion of the property on the eastern edge into a conservation easement. But it's debatable whether that will be enough to preserve the unique hydrology of that area.
To his credit, Dominick has hired an impressive set of consultants who will work through the wetlands, wildlife and traffic issues. But it seems like they will be hard-pressed to deliver any thorough probes of the property before the project winds its way through the planning process. The project has some nice public amenities, such as a trail system through the property and a small pavilion in a park setting.
About three acres of the project are on the shore of Whitefish Lake, just south of the sizable Lodge at Whitefish Lake now under construction. The Whitefish Lakeshore Protection Committee is worried about "pyramiding" on the lake, having up to 167 residents using the 270 feet of lake frontage. Lake contamination is a viable concern.
It's unrealistic to think this land will never be developed. Though many would argue that the land never should have received high-density zoning (it's zoned for up to 850 dwelling units), that's the zoning now and Dominick has a right to develop it.
As Whitefish City-County Planning Board President Nick Palmer put it: "We're stuck with doing some development there. Now it becomes a compromise of what we'd like to get and what we have to give up."
We urge Dominick to go slowly on this one, even if it takes another year or two. The property is too valuable to too many for what it brings to the water quality of that area.
In the game of Monopoly, Boardwalk is the sought-after property, the one everyone wants to own because of the profits they can reap. Whitefish's proposed Boardwalk is no game. It's real life, and we urge Dominick and his partners to proceed with caution. Don't pass "Go" until all of the public's questions have been answered.