Whitefish council mulls boarding house project

A plan to covert the former Whitefish Independent High School building into a boarding house for seasonal hospitality industry workers is the focus of a public hearing at the Whitefish City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Reisch Family Partnership is asking the city for a conditional-use permit to develop an eight-room boarding house with an on-site manager at 625 Park Ave. near Whitefish High School. The property is zoned for high-density, multi-family residential homes.

During a Whitefish Planning Board hearing last month, Dale Reisch of Reisch Family Partnership said he and Pat Carloss, owner of Tupelo Grille, are partnering together on the project to provide a place to live for their summer staffs. They work with Spiritual Cultural Exchange to hire employees. Reisch said they intend to have house rules that will include a curfew and prohibit excessive noise and illegal drug or alcohol use. The on-site manager would be responsible for maintenance of the boarding house and for enforcing the house rules.

Some neighbors have expressed concern over the addition of such a facility to a residential neighborhood.

“To allow 32 young adults into a small building will have a huge impact on our neighborhood,” John Fleming stated in a letter to the city. “Saying this will not impact our neighborhood negatively is outrageous.”

Fleming additionally is concerned about the potential negative impact to property values and drug and alcohol use by tenants. The safety of children walking to schools in that area also is a concern. The building is located near Whitefish High School, Muldown Elementary School and Whitefish Christian Academy.

The Planning Board voted to recommend approval of the conditional-use permit, but added two new conditions — that rules for occupancy be developed and a manager must reside on-site to enforce the rules of occupancy. The city planning staff, however, has concerns with the enforceability of occupancy rules in an essentially private resident and is asking the council to strike that condition.

Among the recommended conditions of approval is a requirement that no rental agreement be for less than 30 days.

The building was constructed in the 1960s and was used as a medical clinic. It was purchased by the Whitefish School District about 16 years ago for use as an alternative high school until Whitefish High School was reconstructed and expanded a couple of years ago. The school district sold the Park Avenue facility in 2014, and the Independent High School moved to the main high school. The building currently is vacant.

IN OTHER business, a public hearing will be held on a resolution of intent to adopt the Connect Whitefish Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.

The council will consider approving a minor preliminary plat for a two-lot subdivision at 835 Seventh St. W.

Contracts for engineering and construction management of several public-works projects will be considered. They include Somers Avenue reconstruction, Flathead Avenue roadway extension, Armory Road drainage improvements, Greenwood to Columbia sewer replacement, cast iron water main replacement projects, South Whitefish water tank evaluation and another phase of the Central Avenue reconstruction from East Third to East Fourth Street.

The council will consider awarding the contract for the sale and moving of the Depot Park office building to North Valley Music School, which proposes to pay the city $20 for the building. According to City Manager Chuck Stearns, the city will save roughly $20,000 by not having to demolish the building. The city will pay for an asbestos investigation, projected to cost $2,725, and must be completed even if the city were demolishing the building.

“We assume and hope that there is no asbestos in the building,” Stearns wrote in his council report. “Any required asbestos remediation done prior to moving will be at the city’s cost.”

The meeting begins at 7:10 p.m. at the interim City Hall, 1005 Baker Ave.

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