Parking Lot Redevelopment Public Comment from Jacob ThomasFrom:Jacob Thomas
To:Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Public Comment - 9/14/20 Work Session
Date:Monday, September 14, 2020 4:43:31 PM
Attachments:image001.png
To Mr. Johnson and the Kalispell City Council,
I am writing today to comment on the redevelopment of the downtown parking lot at the corner of
Third Street West and Main Street.
I read all the time about how Kalispell is apparently facing a parking crunch. Solutions have been
disused, such as converting our main street to a two-lane road with angle parking. But the issue has
hit closer to home recently. I know that downtown building owners have lost tenants and are
struggling to find replacements, and the largest reason that so many business are abandoning our
downtown and moving towards the outskirts of the city is the availability of parking: both for their
customers and for their employees. It is no secret that Kalispell has already designated and sold
permits for just about every parking spot available around the city center. And now there have been
rumblings about taking 10 of the 20 PUBLIC parking spaces in front of the Northwest Montana
History Museum and converting them to permit parking, purely to help a local building owner attract
a new tenant.
Which is why it was odd to read about Kalispell’s wish to redevelop one of the parking lots that
already exists as permitted parking. True, the location being used as parking lot is less than ideal, but
with so many buildings in the city center and on Main Street currently vacant (again, largely due to
lack of parking), wouldn’t another building in the same area only amplify the parking problem? There
are currently 9 metered spots and 36 permitted parking spots at the lot in question (not including
handicap spaces). If this lot is developed, what is plan to replace these 45 parking spots? How does
the city plan to replace this lost parking plus provide parking for the new businesses in that location
PLUS alleviate the current parking crunch in the city? (And with the Valley’s population continuing to
rise, this is a need that will not go away any time soon)
Admittedly, I may be coming from a place of ignorance; there may be a land-swap situation here, or
the city of Kalispell may be moving ahead with a more permanent fix to the downtown parking
shortage problem that is not yet public knowledge. If not, this redevelopment plan certainly feels
like a “left hand does not know what the right hand is doing” kind of situation. There are numerous
building owners that are already unhappy with the lack of parking in the center of town; it would
make little sense to add one more and potentially see even more businesses flock up US-93 to newer
buildings and private parking lots. The historic integrity of our city is potentially at stake.
I don’t know all of the particulars, but it seems to me that if the answer to finding more parking is to
take and monetize a small handful of spaces from the local non-profit history museum, things have
already reached a fever pitch.
Thanks,Jacob ThomasExecutive Director
124 2nd Ave EKalispell, MT 59901(406) 756 8381nwmthistory.org