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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-23-19 Protest - L. Sundeen - AC Hotel by MarriottFrom:Leif Sundeen To:Danielle Garber; Agenda Subject:Application 19078 - AC Hotel Site Plan - PROTEST Date:Monday, September 23, 2019 3:41:29 PM Attachments:AC_Hotel_Application_19078 .pdf Provided below is my letter in protest of the AC Hotel Site Plan. I have also attached a PDF version. Sincerely, Leif. Leif Sundeen 5 E. Lamme St. Bozeman, MT 59715 City of Bozeman Department of Community Development c/o Planner Garber PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 Application #19078 - AC Hotel Site Plan and CCOA + Dem To Whom It May Concern: I am protesting the Application #19078 known as the “AC Hotel Site Plan and CCOA + Dem”. As a resident within 1 block of this development I am protesting the current application as it stands for the following: parking calculations, street infrastructure, traffic to pedestrian safety, and building scale. Parking Infrastructure There are three issues I have with the proposed plan: 1. The parking calculations “under park” the parking requirements, 2. No curb in loading/unloading parking and 3. No onsite parking. Parking Calculations: The applicant has understated the needed employee parking for determining parking calculations. The applicant states that there will only be 16 fulltime employees for 143 rooms. This developer submitted a “like” application for the AC Hotel Missoula to the City of Missoula for tax increment financing (TIF). The developer states there will be 40 fulltime employees for 105 rooms in Missoula1. Based on the calculation used for tax incentives, that would translate to 54 full time employees and not the 16 stated in this application. Curb Loading and Unloading: The proposed site plan does not allow for unimpeded 2-way traffic flow on Tracy. The proposal is to widen Tracy by 2’ to 33’. A 33’ wide area is insufficient to allow for unimpeded 2-way traffic flow. Based on my calculations a minimum of 36’ would be needed to allow for an 8’ West side parallel parking area, 20’ of 2-way traffic and another 8’ of loading and unloading. Living and using Tracy daily, even 36’ would be insufficient in the winter, due to, snow build up on the street leading to one-way traffic. I ask the applicant move the entrance to Mendenhall for loading and unloading, create site provided curb in and/or onsite parking similar to the Etha and Element hotels. No Onsite Parking: My review of the current applications has no onsite parking. How is a 143 room hotel and associated meeting space accommodating for the diversity of guests and users? Does this site plan account for ADA vehicle requirements? Will this hotel be charging for parking; creating additional demand for free on street parking? Based on my experiences, all other major city cores I have visited in the last 12 months (at least 5 city cores), have had a requirement for a minimum of onsite parking. Based on the Gallatin Field’s parking garage public information, parking only cost about $27,000 a spot to put in. Spot cost can be reduced further if automated parking systems are used to increase density. All applicants after the Etha have had to provide a minimum of onsite parking to accommodate a diversity of users. Street Infrastructure The increased vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic in the downtown core has stretched the capabilities of current infrastructure. The additional demand of this site needs to, adequately address its impact on overall traffic and protect the safety of all modes of travel. I have the following issues with the application: Traffic Study I do not see an applicant provided a vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic study to assess the full impact on current infrastructure. I ask the application to provide an all-inclusive traffic study of vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. Traffic Control Per the proposed parking analysis, the applicant is depending on offsite parking. This will have the following impacts: 1. There will be more pedestrian traffic. Based on submittals the developer has filed to the city, they want to use the Bridger parking garage and transit hub. This will lead to a large increase in pedestrian cross traffic across Mendenhall. This may necessitate the need for a traffic light at Tracy and Mendenhall to reduce traffic conflict and improve pedestrian safety. 2. The developer is proposing Tracy as the loading and unloading zone. Based on the assumption of utilizing the Bridger parking garage, a car will need to utilize Tracy, Lamme and Black street to utilize the parking garage (Mendenhall is one way and Tracy is to narrow to U turn on). This will have an enormous increase in traffic on Tracy, Lamme, and Black. The circuitous nature of the vehicular traffic impacts 3 residential designed streets. I ask the applicant to move their entrance to Mendenhall to discourage circuitous traffic through the residential designed streets. Building Scale The overall elevations as presented, creates a 170’ tall canyon wall that fronts Mendenhall and Tracy. It’s scale will create a canyon feeling with reduced natural lighting. In my opinion the height needs to be reduced and/or setbacks and step backs need to be increased to reduce the mass of the building. The Element Hotel has setbacks and a lower overall elevation. The Etha Hotel has step backs around the building to reduce mass of the site. Summary The changes I am looking for, to alleviate my protest are: 1. Increased parking requirement for the undercalculated fulltime employees. 2. Change the entrance and loading/unloading to Mendenhall. Utilize site provided curb ins and/or onsite parking to allow for unimpeded traffic flow - similar to the Etha Hotel and Element. 3. A multi modal traffic study showing the vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle impact on the surrounding blocks. 4. Developer provided traffic light at Tracy and Mendenhall. This is to minimize pedestrian flow/safety conflict to the garage and improve traffic flow for circling vehicle traffic to the garage. 5. Reduce the mass and scale of the hotel through setbacks, step backs and/or reduced overall height. Verify compliance for height (including accessory items on the building, e.g. cell phone towers) and setbacks. Sources: 1. https://missoulian.com/news/local/year-old-firestone-building-toppled-to-make-way-for- /article_79353be3-79bc-5896-8182-db3920ca0ffd.html   Leif Sundeen  5 E. Lamme St.  Bozeman, MT 59715  City of Bozeman Department of Community Development  c/o Planner Garber  PO Box 1230  Bozeman, MT 59771‐1230    Application #19078 ‐ AC Hotel Site Plan and CCOA + Dem    To Whom It May Concern:  I am protesting the Application #19078 known as the “AC Hotel Site Plan and CCOA + Dem”. As a  resident within 1 block of this development I am protesting the current application as it stands for  the following: parking calculations, street infrastructure, traffic to pedestrian safety, and building  scale.  Parking Infrastructure There are three issues I have with the proposed plan: 1. The parking calculations “under park” the  parking requirements, 2. No curb in loading/unloading parking and 3. No onsite parking.  Parking Calculations: The applicant has understated the needed employee parking for determining parking calculations.  The applicant states that there will only be 16 fulltime employees for 143 rooms. This developer  submitted a “like” application for the AC Hotel Missoula to the City of Missoula for tax increment  financing (TIF). The developer states there will be 40 fulltime employees for 105 rooms in Missoula1.  Based on the calculation used for tax incentives, that would translate to 54 full time employees and  not the 16 stated in this application.   Curb Loading and Unloading: The proposed site plan does not allow for unimpeded 2‐way traffic flow on Tracy. The proposal is to  widen Tracy by 2’ to 33’.  A 33’ wide area is insufficient to allow for unimpeded 2‐way traffic flow.  Based on my calculations a minimum of 36’ would be needed to allow for an 8’ West side parallel  parking area, 20’ of 2‐way traffic and another 8’ of loading and unloading. Living and using Tracy  daily, even 36’ would be insufficient in the winter, due to, snow build up on the street leading to  one‐way traffic.  I ask the applicant move the entrance to Mendenhall for loading and unloading, create site provided  curb in and/or onsite parking similar to the Etha and Element hotels.    Page 2  Application #19078 ‐ AC Hotel Site Plan and CCOA + Dem  Leif Sundeen  No Onsite Parking: My review of the current applications has no onsite parking. How is a 143 room hotel and  associated meeting space accommodating for the diversity of guests and users? Does this site plan  account for ADA vehicle requirements? Will this hotel be charging for parking; creating additional  demand for free on street parking?   Based on my experiences, all other major city cores I have visited in the last 12 months (at least 5  city cores), have had a requirement for a minimum of onsite parking. Based on the Gallatin Field’s  parking garage public information, parking only cost about $27,000 a spot to put in. Spot cost can  be reduced further if automated parking systems are used to increase density. All applicants after  the Etha have had to provide a minimum of onsite parking to accommodate a diversity of users.   Street Infrastructure The increased vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic in the downtown core has  stretched the capabilities of current infrastructure. The additional demand of this site needs to,  adequately address its impact on overall traffic and protect the safety of all modes of travel. I have  the following issues with the application:  Traffic Study I do not see an applicant provided a vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic and bicycle traffic study to  assess the full impact on current infrastructure. I ask the application to provide an all‐inclusive  traffic study of vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.  Traffic Control  Per the proposed parking analysis, the applicant is depending on offsite parking. This will have the  following impacts:  1. There will be more pedestrian traffic. Based on submittals the developer has filed to the  city, they want to use the Bridger parking garage and transit hub. This will lead to a large  increase in pedestrian cross traffic across Mendenhall. This may necessitate the need for a  traffic light at Tracy and Mendenhall to reduce traffic conflict and improve pedestrian  safety.  2. The developer is proposing Tracy as the loading and unloading zone. Based on the  assumption of utilizing the Bridger parking garage, a car will need to utilize Tracy, Lamme  and Black street to utilize the parking garage (Mendenhall is one way and Tracy is to narrow  to U turn on). This will have an enormous increase in traffic on Tracy, Lamme, and Black.   The circuitous nature of the vehicular traffic impacts 3 residential designed streets. I ask the  applicant to move their entrance to Mendenhall to discourage circuitous traffic through the  residential designed streets.      Page 3  Application #19078 ‐ AC Hotel Site Plan and CCOA + Dem  Leif Sundeen  Building Scale The overall elevations as presented, creates a 170’ tall canyon wall that fronts Mendenhall and  Tracy. It’s scale will create a canyon feeling with reduced natural lighting. In my opinion the height  needs to be reduced and/or setbacks and step backs need to be increased to reduce the mass of the  building. The Element Hotel has setbacks and a lower overall elevation. The Etha Hotel has step  backs around the building to reduce mass of the site.  Summary The changes I am looking for, to alleviate my protest are:  1. Increased parking requirement for the undercalculated fulltime employees.  2. Change the entrance and loading/unloading to Mendenhall. Utilize site provided curb ins  and/or onsite parking to allow for unimpeded traffic flow ‐ similar to the Etha Hotel and  Element.  3. A multi modal traffic study showing the vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle impact on the  surrounding blocks.  4. Developer provided traffic light at Tracy and Mendenhall. This is to minimize pedestrian  flow/safety conflict to the garage and improve traffic flow for circling vehicle traffic to the  garage.  5. Reduce the mass and scale of the hotel through setbacks, step backs and/or reduced overall  height. Verify compliance for height (including accessory items on the building, e.g. cell  phone towers) and setbacks.  Sources: 1. https://missoulian.com/news/local/year‐old‐firestone‐building‐toppled‐to‐make‐way‐for‐ /article_79353be3‐79bc‐5896‐8182‐db3920ca0ffd.html