Whitefish tightens retail-store rules

Requiring ground-floor retail space for new construction and banning chain-store franchises from downtown Whitefish are two of several recommendations the Whitefish City-County Planning Board approved Thursday in an effort to improve the vitality of the downtown shopping district.

The board recommended changes to both the city zoning laws and architectural review guidelines that will be considered by the City Council on Aug. 18.

Among the proposals is a mandate to require windows and doors to cover 75 percent of the wall area of new downtown construction.

But after downtown property owner Toby Scott testified that he had conducted a review of window and door space in existing buildings on Central Avenue and found nearly all businesses to have considerably less than 75 percent, the board changed the proposal to 75 percent of the linear street frontage.

Scott measured two downtown stores with ample windows and found them to have 32 and 34 percent doors and windows on the front wall space.

"Nobody's got 75 percent," he said. "I think every time someone wants to build, we'll get a request for an exemption."

Planning director David Taylor agreed with Scott's assessment and said using a percentage of linear street frontage was probably the intent all along.

THE BOARD went along with changing the zoning code to ban "formula retail" - government-speak for chain stores - from the general business, or WB-3 district, if the company has 12 or more other retail sales establishments and standardized merchandise, facades, decor and uniforms.

At one point, though, board chairman Frank Sweeney said he believed the formula-retail restrictions seemed "fraught with peril."

Board member Steve Qunell wondered about tweaking the regulations to allow local or regional franchises, such as Wheat Montana, but Taylor said federal commerce laws prevent cities from accommodating some franchises and not others.

Some chain stores have changed their logos, uniforms and decor to fit into downtowns to get around formula-retail restrictions, Taylor said.

Existing downtown Whitefish franchises, such as MacKenzie River Pizza, Montana Coffee Traders and Ace Hardware, would be grandfathered.

The Heart of Whitefish downtown preservation group and the city's new growth policy both recommended the chain-store restrictions, arguing that they detract from and displace unique locally owned businesses and don't invest much in the local community.

THE BUILDING height conundrum also was addressed. Whitefish has two conflicting sets of height regulations - architectural standards that limits building height to two stories and 35 feet and zoning laws that allow up to 45 feet if the building is stepped back on the upper floor.

"Conceivably you could get four stories crammed in if the ceiling heights are low," Taylor said.

The board, not wanting to rule out the possibility of a three-story building such as a boutique hotel, removed the two-story requirement and made the height ceiling a uniform 35 feet. Areas outside the WB-3 district would continue to have the 45-foot step-back option.

The board also softened a change to architectural guidelines that would have mandated new and remodeled buildings to have a minimum ceiling height of 11 feet on the ground floor to promote attractive retail spaces. The language was changed from "must" to "should" after downtown business owner Gary Stephens of The Toggery said he thought 10 or 10.5 feet for the ground-floor height probably was sufficient.

Stephens and other Heart of Whitefish members said they want the new regulations for ground-floor retail space and other changes to apply not only to Central Avenue but also side streets. The board opted to limit the new rules to Central Avenue.

Attorney William Hileman Jr. recently wrote a letter to the city, opposing the ground-floor retail mandate because it will make the Hedman, Hileman & LaCosta law-firm building - a handsome brick structure with a clock tower - a nonconforming use in downtown and could devalue the property.

Ground-floor professional offices will be grandfathered indefinitely, including a change of ownership, unless the property is vacant for more than 180 days.

Taylor said the law firm could become a conforming use by installing retail space in the building's frontage on Central Avenue.

Stephens testified that nonretail businesses interrupt the shopping flow downtown.

"What he [Hileman] did decreased my retail value," Stephens said. "He should have done retail on the first floor in the first place. That would have been best for the city, but he did what was best for Mr. Hileman."

Rick and Marilyn Nelson of Nelson Hardware spoke in favor of the new regulations to bolster retail development.

"Take a drive through Kalispell and see what can happen to viability when you don't require retail uses," Rick Nelson said. "Kalispell has about 12 retail stores in about five blocks. It slipped away from them. I hope Whitefish will have the foresight to prevent that from happening."

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