HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-14-16 Public Comment - S. Spitler - Bozeman TaproomPlease vote to reclaim the Tap Room’s application.
I strongly oppose the approval of the tap room’s application to modify it’s
conditional use permit to allow for serving hard alcohol. The public and the
many parents whose children are confronted with the issue daily should have
the opportunity to comment on it. I am not alone in my deep concern.
I am a parent of two children at Hawthorne and specifically a parent of a
child who looks directly at the second floor of the Tap Room from his
classroom and watches people drinking during school hours. There is face
recognition from the second floor. The kindergarten class that is in the City
Hall building is specifically walked back to Hawthorne on a longer route to
avoid exposure to the bar patrons drinking during school hours.
I believe the city’s original approval for the building and placement of the
tap room directly across the street from an elementary school clearly
violates the spirit of the state law setting out distance specifications. It was
deeply disappointing to see how the door was moved to find away to fit into
the law and be located with a different street address. The state law was
not designed to protect bar patrons from school children but to protect
children from the influence of bar patrons. The city clearly did not have the
children in mind when approving the bar. And now we are at risk of the city
taking one bad decision and inflating it to an even worse one with the
potential of a hard alcohol license. I encourage the city to look into
mitigation measures. For example, any alcohol should not be served during
school hours. I encourage the city to be a group of decisionmakers that hold
our children’s interests above all else when “interpreting” the law.
I request this time when you consider this application that you think of the
children not the bar patrons or business owners. If you think the placement
of a bar and serving alcohol during school hours does not impact children
then I invite you to do some research and ask questions from experts on
child psychology. I encourage you to think about what modifications could
be made to make this situation safer for children. Children are forced to
modify their behavior when impacted by people under the influence. There
are plenty of therapists and teachers who will share this information. Also, I
am interested in what it would take to amend the state law so that it
actually reflects the spirit of the law and is designed to protect children not
harm them and ensure that our schools are safe zones not directly
influenced by the consumption of alcohol.
Thank you for your service and consideration,
All the best,
Shawnee Spitler