The downtown parking puzzle

For the past few years since I bought the building the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce and Whitefish Real Estate occupies, I have paid for three parking spots — two for the chamber and one for WRE. These spots are next to our office and where Big Mountain Tire stood.

The new parking in that spot lot no longer offers long-term parking. We will now have to move and park in the gravel lot across from Rocky Mountain Real Estate if we want to pay for long-term, reserved parking.

The new price for three 24 hour spaces will total $1,800 every year. Ouch. While incomes are going down, the city is raising its parking rates (not good government timing).

It's my opinion that when the economy improves and the market warrants, the owner of the gravel space will again want to construct the multi-use building originally planned. My guess, two to three years out. Where will the cars park then?

I'm told Lot 3 on the corner of Central and Third Street will no longer be available for businesses to use or lease when the beautification construction commences.

Downtown shop owners are in most part not rich people. They are people that put in 60-plus hour weeks to make a decent living. Parking is expensive. What about their employees? Should the shop owners ask a $7.50 an hour clerk to pay for their own parking? Should the shop owner pay $2,000-$4,000 in parking for their staff?

These shops and shop owners are the collectors of the 2% resort tax that helps the city help the community. Shouldn't the city be trying to help these business owners rather than be charging and raising the fees to park, so those people can go to work and earn the city and community some tax money?

When I co-chaired the Whitefish Parking Committee, we were looking for ways to keep owners and employees from playing "The Two Hour Parking Shuffle." (Employees moving their car every two hours to avoid a ticket does not make a space available for a shopper). Looks like the city is inducing labor, and that baby is about to be born again.

This dilemma needs attention. City businesses need a place to park and one that is free. Yep, there's parking north of the library. Will that be taken by the new city hall as planned? There's some on south Central Avenue, but that should be for tourists.

It seems we have the money for some big changes but are not addressing a very real need.

One more issue. For more than 12 years, I've been in front of the tourists and locals looking for a good answer to "where are there some public restrooms?" We have none. This has been brought up again and again. Nothing.

Put in a parking kiosk in the new parking lot, use the revenue to maintain bathrooms next to the bus stop or somewhere convenient. We need public restrooms as much or more than we need bulbouts, sloped sidewalks or raised crosswalks. Why wasn't this included in the "The Plan?"

We need to address the need for a place to stop and a place to go.

Bill Milner is a resident of Whitefish.