Fresh Life project heads to Whitefish council for vote

Fresh Life Church’s proposal for a mixed-use building in downtown Whitefish that includes a split-level church and retail space goes before the Whitefish City Council for a final decision on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

The church is asking for a conditional-use permit to build on three city lots where Lakestream Fly Shop operated for many years at 344 Central Ave.

After facing stiff public opposition and a recommendation from the Whitefish Planning Board to deny the permit, Fresh Life has revised the project to address some of the concerns.

The site plan was modified to provide edge-to-edge retail frontage along the street, moving the proposed entry on the north side of the building to the front. That switch, however, will increase the building footprint from 10,650 to 11,214 square feet because the north sidewalk was removed and replaced with building space.

A conditional-use permit is required for buildings with a footprint greater than 7,500 square feet in the downtown district.

Fresh Life also submitted an altered architectural rendering to reflect a design change the church believes will make the building more compatible with existing structures on Central Avenue.

In an email to the Whitefish Planning Office, Fresh Life said the church plans to sell the retail spaces in the front half of the building and would not use those retail spaces for church-related businesses.

Church officials also said they’re willing to work with neighboring churches to come up with a Sunday morning schedule that may relieve parking congestion.

The Whitefish Planning Board last month unanimously recommended the permit be denied following three hours of testimony from city residents largely opposed to the project.

The board adopted several findings of fact supporting their recommendation to deny the permit. Those findings asserted the plan for a split-level church doesn’t conform with the city’s downtown master plan that calls for ground floor retail from front to back and side to side of the building footprint. Zoning regulations in the Old Town Central District do not allow a church at ground level.

Board members also felt the project design doesn’t address neighborhood impact and parking or public concern about compatibility with community character.

The Whitefish Planning Office recommends approval of the conditional-use permit, even though the staff report notes staff has concerns regarding parking, conformance with the downtown master plan and the potential for detrimental impact to adjacent land uses and residential areas.

Fresh Life’s Whitefish congregation of about 150 people has been meeting at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center in recent years.

Founded in 2007 by the Rev. Levi Lusko and his wife Jenny Lusko, Fresh Life Church began in Kalispell and has expanded to include campuses in Whitefish, Polson, Missoula, Bozeman, Billings, Helena and at out-of-state sites in Salt Lake City and Portland. The church currently has a 16,000-square-foot infill construction project underway in downtown Kalispell.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the council will hold a public hearing on a request from Mark Panasiddi for a 53-lot subdivision at the condominium project formerly known as The Views, located southwest of the intersection of JP Road and River Lakes Parkway. The property is developed with 29 condominiums in five buildings, a clubhouse and infrastructure to support the original development project.

An ordinance rezoning 0.3 acres of land west of Icehouse Road in the Maple Ridge subdivision from county to city two-family residential zoning is the focus of a third public hearing on the agenda.

The council meets at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.

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