Whitefish addresses downtown parking challenges

What would you do if you could wave a magic wand to improve parking challenges in Whitefish?

It’s a question parking consultant Julie Dixon posed during a forum recently at City Hall.

The main answers given were much as probably expected — increase parking, guide drivers to parking that already exists and seek solutions for more long-term employee parking.

“Parking in downtown can be a challenge,” Dixon said. “That’s a good thing because that means people want to visit and stay in downtown.”

Dixon heads Dixon Resources Unlimited, which provides parking consulting services to municipalities and has been contracted by the city of Whitefish.

The parking improvement plan will encompass the WB-3 commercial zone, including the Railway District, in downtown.

Whitefish Planning Director Dave Taylor said the city is excited to get an action plan and start working on parking solutions.

Whitefish has a good foundation with previous parking plans and its master plan for the downtown, and the goal now is to implement solutions to challenges, Dixon added.

“What we’re looking to create is a parking action plan,” she said. “We’re going to encapsulate what was done in the past and get feedback to put together a viable action plan for the city.”

Trek Stephens, owner of The Toggery, said the parking garage attached to City Hall has helped add parking in the downtown.

“The parking garage looks so good nobody can find it,” he said. “Locals have found it and are using it, so that’s good.”

Dixon said her team visiting Whitefish for the first time also had difficulty locating the parking garage and noted that signs explaining parking rules in it can be confusing.

She noted that more wayfinding signs to assist visitors with locating the garage may be a good idea.

Stephens added that additional parking for employees would be a solution as many park in residential areas.

“Not a lot live within biking and walking distance,” he said.

Pat Carloss, owner of Tupelo Grille and Abruzzo Italian Kitchen, agreed that more parking for employees would help his business. He noted that he favored the city’s parking plans that called for a parking garage at the corner of Spokane Avenue and Second Street.

The city, however, opted for a surface parking lot there instead.

Dixon said more evaluation would be needed before determining if a second parking garage was the right choice, noting also that it wouldn’t make sense to construct additional parking until the city is managing its current parking facilities in the best manner.

“Shared parking agreements can often work,” she said, noting a possible solution. “We often see that with banks where after they close for the day their parking lot can be used for employee parking for other businesses. That can take the congestion off the primo spots downtown.”

Dixon said her firm will continue to gather information and input on Whitefish’s parking, and then will return to observe parking here during the peak summer season. It is also expected to hold additional forums to present recommendations for parking solutions and get further feedback.