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Home My WebLink About10-21-19 Public Comment - C. Lawrence - AC Hotel by MarriottFrom:Carrie Lawrence To:Danielle Garber; Agenda Subject:Public Comment for Application 19078 Date:Monday, October 21, 2019 10:12:44 AM Dear City of Bozeman Department of Community Development and Ms. Garber: Upon receipt of the revised public notice related to the site plan and commercial certificate of appropriateness with demolition application, (Application #19078) I would like to provide the following comments for consideration. As a commercial property owner for over 18 years at Beall and Tracy, I have participated in the resurgence, growth and progress within a historical district adjacent to Bozeman’s downtown corridor. I continue to be strongly in favor of responsible development that supports the character, public appeal, and economic impacts of Bozeman’s downtown corridor. However, I do not support this application with specific concerns related to parking and would strongly urge the Director of Community Development to disapprove it. While the revised application discloses an off-site parking location as well as the use of monthly permits in the Bridger Parking Garage (BPG), the fundamentals of providing adequate parking for 143 guestrooms and 2 bars are not appropriately addressed in the document that reports 0 on-site parking spaces on the application. The concerns that follow include: 1. As a new build construction project, why wouldn’t the City require a portion of the parking to be included on site? a. On September 9, 2019, the commissioners approved plans for a 104 guestroom Residence Inn on East Main Street. Parking is specified to include 124 off-street spaces of which 34 spaces are required to come from an on-site underground garage according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. b. Why isn’t on-site parking required at this development and how can 80 off-site leased spaces suffice for the parking requirements of a project of this size in comparison to the approval granted for the hotel above? 2. The application states it is the intention of the AC Hotel to use existing BPG monthly parking permits held by Homebase Partners for hotel employee parking. a. Can an application be approved simply based upon intentions between 3 separate legal entities (i.e. Straightaway Bozeman Investors, Homebase Partners, & City of Bozeman?) Further, if Homebase Partners holds the monthly parking permits, how can these permits be used by the entity that owns the hotel? Would not the hotel owning entity have to secure their own monthly parking permits? With the strained on-street parking to the north of the AC Hotel location, I am concerned about adding a significant number of additional daily parked cars to on-street parking. b. The Bozeman Parking Commission created Resolution 2019-05 (see attached link.) http://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink8/0/doc/194680/Electronic.aspx In summary, this resolution states that long-term leases are no longer being given in the BPG to satisfy UDC requirements and further states that parking permits may be revoked at any time. c. The applicant is aware of the resolution yet continues to state, “the most logical parking solution for the AC Hotel is to enter into a UDC lease with the City for spaces in the BPG.” 3. The proposed alternative solution to utilize 80 leased spaces at 300 N. Willson or the Medical Arts Center (MAC) is a reasonable solution to solve a portion of the parking needs but not the needs in the project’s entirety. a. The proposal shows the west lot contains 85 spaces of which 80 intend to be leased. In total the MAC has 189 spaces with 70 parcel lots and 34 on-street spaces in conjunction with the west lot. The applicant uses the 189 spaces as the basis by which to calculate a surplus of parking estimated to be between 97 to 86 spaces. This is how the 80 leased spaces are being justified; however, I find the calculation to be inaccurate and the quantity of unused parking spaces to be overstated. i. Neither method of calculation – office nor medical accounts for or acknowledges the patrons, patients or students (Esthetician school on site) that utilize the services provided at the MAC. ii. With the other developments in this area – Block M, One 11 Lofts, Willson 16, The Element, and Armory Hotel, (3 of which are not yet activated) it is unrealistic to include 34 on-street spaces in the calculation. Parking is an issue in this area. iii. As a property owner at Beall & Tracy, I have done an informal inventory of vacant spaces available at MAC during the morning hours, Tuesday thru Friday, October 15-18, in order to assess the amount of cross-over between hotel parking and doctors, staff, & patrons utilizing the lots. The averages are as follows: 1. West lot – 38 to 42 vacant spaces available at 8 am while reaching 90-95% capacity by mid-morning. 2. Parcel lot – 15 to 20 vacant spaces available at 8 am while reaching 90- 95% capacity by mid-morning. 3. There are not 80 spots available for lease and to lease this amount would put a strain on MAC patrons, employees and adjacent neighbors. 3. The Off-Site Parking Space License Agreement is between Medical Arts Building Partners LLC and Straightaway Bozeman Investors LLC. Could these 2 entities be connected to one another through Its members and what is the future intent of the property? a. Have the tenants of the MAC been notified of this pending parking space license agreement? Was notice of application 19078 given to each of them? b. The State of Montana business records indicate the Medical Arts Building Partners LLC was just recently formed on July 29, 2019. A Missoula law firm is on file as the registered agent. As a new entity, what is the intent of the purchase of 300 N. Willson and its future? c. The License Agreement indicates the President of the Medical Arts Building Manager Corp is Bert A. Getz Jr. Mr. Getz is also the Director, Chairman of the Investment Committee and Co-CEO of Globe Corporation. Globe Corporation is a Getz family- owned real estate investment firm based out of Phoenix and Chicago. Again, I ask, what is the future intent for the Medical Arts Building? i. Construction may well be underway for the AC Hotel before redevelopment plans for the MAC are officially disclosed. ii. When property use changes, what happens to this parking space lease and its intent to exclusively and in its entirety provide all applicable requirements of the Bozeman Municipal Code 38 for the AC Project during the term of this License? 1. At a minimum, in the event of redevelopment of the property accommodations for parking will need to be made during the demolition and construction phase. 2. What economic impact does a bait and switch scenario create for the adjacent neighbors, business owners and the City of Bozeman? At both the beginning and end of the application narrative, the applicant states, “the most logical parking solution for the AC Hotel is to enter into a UDC lease with the City for spaces in the BPG.” It strikes me that given this strong intent to have what is not available, then potentially develop in ways that exacerbate parking challenges (construction, significant increases in size of the developed project, etc.) the applicant is posturing to require future efforts to secure a UDC lease. Will the City’s hand be forced to make such a concession, due in large part because of the the approach for parking contemplated in this application? The future holds significant spikes in parking congestion and developers and the City must work together to create viable solutions. On-site parking is a requirement. Based upon the findings addressed above, I respectfully implore the Bozeman Community of Development and the Planning Department to deny approval of Application #19078 based on inadequate parking. Respectfully submitted, Carrie Lawrence Ridge Center LLC, 7 East Beall