HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-25-19 Public Comment - D. Tirrell - Ruh Building Site Plan & CUPFrom:Re-Compute Bozeman, Inc.
To:Planning; Agenda
Subject:ATTN Addi Jadin SUP/SP 18423 and 18422
Date:Monday, March 25, 2019 1:18:05 PM
To Any and All Concerned,
This is in response to SUP/SP 18423 and 18422, the building going up on 605 N 7th Ave.
As the owner of the plot directly north of the planned building at 605 N. 7th Ave, I feel I need to speak up
with my concerns. Now, I was initially excited about the prospects of a brewery going in next door.
However, as I have learned more about this plan, I have some real concerns about what is going on with
this planned building.
Quite a while back, we had been approached by Colin Ruh about the possibility of trading some of our
parking in return for him resurfacing our lot as well as some other changes. We had declined that offer.
We discovered later that the City had decided to relax, or completely remove, parking requirements.
These are the same requirements that existing property owners have had to abide by. We feel like this is
going to open a can of worms that will ultimately make the existing business owners the bad guys and
affect the public at large negatively. If the proposed brewery, as well as the other businesses in the
planned building, do well, there are only 26 planned parking spots to accommodate those businesses.
Those parking spots are also going to be utilized by the 15-16 apartments that will be upstairs on this
building. If you consider two cars for each apartment, you can see how that is for too few spots to
accommodate everyone. There just isn't enough parking on the street or surrounding neighborhoods to
accommodate this. Even if we did agree to give them 6-7 parking spots, that is not even close to enough
parking for a business like a brewery if it becomes popular. This will force people to park on our property
and open us up for potential legal issues should someone injure themselves on our property (Slipping on
snow, etc.) Will the city be prepared to help with lawsuits that could occur as a result of the lack of
parking in this regard since they are giving the OK by relaxing the requirements? This parking issue
doesn't even account for the ELM concert venue that is set to be built shortly. We have a huge parking
problem heading our way and I have a hard time thinking that people in the planning department don't
realize this. At the last city commission meeting we attended, when asked about parking, Mr. Ruh had
mentioned that he was talking with other businesses around 7th about sharing parking. I have not heard
from him since his initial inquiry about parking and, since there is talk about relaxing parking
requirements, I doubt he has pursued it much since then either. This tells me that there is a lack of
concern for where people will park and a lack of courtesy for other businesses and property owners in the
7th Avenue corridor.
If you consider what has recently gone on with the SID levied on the area off Manley road that includes
Map Brewing, it feels like with this building we are going to be seeing the same thing happening to
existing property owners. Imagining 100+ cars trying to find a space to park to go to this brewery is
daunting, especially when you factor in the new concert venue operating at the same time with a 1500
person capacity. Where are those cars going to go? Who is going to pick up the bill for the mess that is
coming? Will an SID be coming down the pike in attempts to force current property owners into
exorbitant taxes or possibly selling their property? It is starting to feel this way and that is a larger can of
worms I don't think anyone wants to open at this point. We can’t force through a building now and try and
deal with the issues we know are coming later.
In short, allowing this building proposal to move forward as planned is problematic and should be
reconsidered. I understand the City's desire to bring in new buildings to beautify the 7th avenue corridor.
I do not believe that forcing through this building project as-is just to secure funds before the expiration of
the urban renewal fund and disregarding parking policies is a prudent plan. The increased traffic has
nowhere to go currently and ignoring this is detrimental to the area at large. I feel that the favors being
done for this proposed building are only being done for the benefit of one or two properties and at the
expense of all else. Moving forward on a building with full knowledge that there isn't adequate parking is
irresponsible and harmful to the public as well as existing property owners and I urge anyone involved to
reconsider this plan. Thank you.
Sincerely,
David Tirrell
Re-Compute Bozeman, Inc.
615 N. 7th Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59715
406-522-9049