Permit approved for new B&B

A conditional use permit was

unanimously approved by Whitefish City Council on Nov. 7 to allow

Scott and Cari Elden to operate a bed and breakfast at their home

on O’Brien Avenue. They will call the lodge The Whitefish River

Inn.

The property is zoned as a high density

residential district and is next to Riverside Park and the

footbridge over the Whitefish River. The CUP included 13 conditions

and will transfer with the sale of the home. They could rent as

many as five rooms but plan to start with only two.

Cari Elden told council at the meeting

a bed and breakfast will add to the charm of the neighborhood and

compliment the park.

She noted that when they purchased the

home, “it was a very different economy” and that they are trying to

be creative to meet their mortgage.

A few residents urged council to deny

the request.

Richard Hildner, who is the closest

neighbor to the home, cited a number of reasons why a bed and

breakfast was inappropriate for the residential area. He said

parking is inadequate, traffic could cause problems near the park

and bike path, and that municipal services weren’t designed for

commercial use.

Rhonda Fitzgerald, who owns the Garden

Wall Inn on Spokane Avenue, said the Elden’s bed and breakfast

could disrupt “an intact and valid neighborhood.” She said bed and

breakfast lodges were intended to be on major streets.

Planning Board member Ken Stein said he

was empathetic toward the neighbors but that there was very little

to argue.

“Based on the zoning, it would be best

to approve the CUP,” he told the council.

The special provisions section of city

code provides for specific criteria and requirements for bed and

breakfast lodges.

Councilor Phil Mitchell said the if

zoning regulations call for something, then “that’s the way it

is.”

“The fact is that it complies with the

growth policy and zoning,” he said. “Parking is perhaps not ideal,

but not problematic.”

He said it would be a nice place for a

bed and breakfast.

Councilor Ryan Friel agreed that it’s a

legal use and likely wouldn’t disrupt the neighborhood

extensively.

“It’s not a restaurant, bar or hotel —

it’s a bed and breakfast,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of

bed-and-breakfast users that are Hells Angles. I empathize with the

neighbors, but I don’t see it as tearing at the fabric of the

neighborhood.”