HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-20-17 Public Comment - B. Sterkel - DevelopmentDear Bozeman City Commission,
My name is Brittany Sterkel and I am the owner of Motion Athletics All-Star Cheer Gym. I'm not
sure if you have heard of us but we are a facility for young children and athletes in our
community. We offer a variety of classes, toddlers programs, birthday parties, competitive
cheerleading, tumbling and athletic programs for ages 2-18. I started this program seven years
ago with 12 kids and now have over 400 kids in our program. Our program is well known in the
Gallatin Valley and is growing daily.
My husband and I purchased land at 3762 Galloway St. last November in the plans for building
this coming spring. Since purchasing that land which was zoned for the needs of our building
the city has now placed a hold on any building in our area. I spoke with Chris Saunders this
morning and he recommended that I reach out to you.
Being a small business owner in this town and having saved over $85,000 to purchase this land
to make this building happen for our community and now being told that I have no options to
build in the near future is panicking. I worked for months with the Prospera Business network
and received a grant through the BSTF program to help with the drawing expenses of
developing our building by showing how much Community and Economic development this
could bring to our area . Motion Atheltics was awarded $6000 in planning development but
again now not being able to build what we have worked so hard to do is beyond frustrating.
We are bursting at the seams at the building we are currently in and need the ability to build
this building in order for my business to succeed. Not only is this building a necessity to the
success of my business that I have built from the ground up but also to the financial support of
my family.
I am looking for guidance on what to do in this situation. I even looked at the option to sell this
land a couple of months ago and had it on the market with a cash offer on the table. A closing
date was set with the plan to sell this land and move to another property but during the due
diligence timeline of the sale our buyers came to the city to get a permit they were denied. Of
course they walked from the purchase since the city was not able to give them a timeline on
when this would be lifted and now we are again stuck. I cannot build and I cannot sell.
Financially I am still having to pay my HOA fees, my loan payment and my taxes for a piece of
land that the city is not letting me build on. I understand that the city is doing everything
possible to get a stoplight put in on the intersection needed but I feel that the timeline is
unacceptable and will ultimately cause my business needs to fail. I am looking for guidance or a
solution on what to do. Until I am able to either build on this land or sell this land all of my
financial investment have been put into this land leaving me no other options.
I would love to sit down and figure out a plan and a timeline to find a solution. Please let me
know of the first available meeting.
Thank you for your time,
Brittany Sterkel
Motion Athletics
406-581-2932