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Home My WebLink About07-05-23 Public Comment - E. Staley - FW_ ATTENTION_ Letter from Downtown Stakeholders to CommissionersFrom:Mike Veselik To:Mike Maas; Alex Newby; Agenda Subject:FW: ATTENTION: Letter from Downtown Stakeholders to Commissioners Date:Wednesday, July 5, 2023 11:53:59 AM Attachments:image003.png BZN City Commission Letter - FINAL rev.6-30-23.pdf Public Comment below and attached. Mike Veselik C: 406.946.2869 From: Ellie Staley <ellie@downtownbozeman.org> Sent: Wednesday, July 5, 2023 11:49 AM To: Cyndy Andrus <CAndrus@BOZEMAN.NET>; Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET>; I-Ho Pomeroy <IPomeroy@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic <jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET>; Christopher Coburn <ccoburn@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Jeff Mihelich <jmihelich@BOZEMAN.NET>; Mike Veselik <mveselik@BOZEMAN.NET>; Sam Rickenbaugh <sam@rockymountaintoycompany.com>; Vonda Laird (Vonda Laird) <vlaird@jvrestaurant.com>; aaron parker <aaronparker5@icloud.com>; Albert - Backcountry Burger Bar <amcd59715@gmail.com>; Amy - Altitude Gallery <amy@altitudegallerybozeman.com>; Babs Noelle <babs@alarajewelry.com>; Eric Bowman <eric@owenhouse.com>; Joseph Romano <jromano@r-5consulting.com>; Susan Neubauer (frescocafe317@gmail.com) <frescocafe317@gmail.com>; Cory Lawrence <coryl@offthebeatenpath.com>; Emily Cope <Emily@downtownbozeman.org> Subject: ATTENTION: Letter from Downtown Stakeholders to Commissioners CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Bozeman City Commissioners, City Manager, and City Parking Manager, I received the attached letter from the downtown stakeholder group that convened at the Commission’s request as a part of the on-street paid parking action that failed in January. They have asked that I convey this to you given they don’t have themselves organized with a board chair and in the interest of keeping the DBP connected to their deliberations. They hope receiving the letter is a welcome event and they look forward to your reply (all members are copied on this email so please reply to everyone when you are able to). Many thanks, Ellie Staley Ellie Staley Executive Director Downtown Bozeman Partnership 222 East Main Street #302 | Bozeman MT 59715 406-586-4008 | www.downtownbozeman.org Thanks to our Platinum Sponsor: The Downtown Business Improvement District and Downtown Urban Renewal District are City of Bozeman entities administered by the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. 1 VIA EMAIL ONLY June 30, 2023 Bozeman City Commissioners, Bozeman City Manager Jeff Mihelich, and Parking Manager Mike Veselik Downtown Bozeman Stakeholder Group: Aaron Parker, Jam!, Revelry, Dave’s Sushi Albert Macdonald, Backcountry Burger/Pizza Campania Amy Kirkland, Altitude Gallery Babs Noelle, Owner Alara Jewelry Cory Lawrence, Kimpton Armory Hotel/Off the Beaten Path LLC Eric Bowman, Owenhouse Ace Hardware Joe Romano, Owner Urban Kitchen/Nina’s Sam Rickenbaugh, Great Rocky Mountain Toy Company Susan Neubauer, Fresco Café Vonda Laird, J&V Restaurant Supply Dear Bozeman City Commission, City Manager Jeff Mihelich, and Parking Manager Mike Veselik: This letter has been composed by the group of downtown stakeholders, listed above, who were asked to consider the questions posed by Deputy Mayor Cunningham related to the City Commission’s on-street paid parking work session on October 4th. In response to the decision to end further consideration of on-street paid parking in favor of pursuing other options to address demonstrated parking supply issues in downtown, we wanted to reach out to the City Commission and Bozeman City Manager for two reasons. First, we wanted to thank the Commissioners for requesting our input and for listening to the reasoned comments we made that on-street paid parking in downtown is not the right approach for our community and its historic downtown. We worked diligently on the assigned task, within an extremely tight timeline, and the results of our efforts were captured in the attached Final Report to the City Commission prepared by Mark Willmarth, Vision West, Inc. (“Final Report”). In our view, the options and alternatives resulting from the downtown stakeholder meetings and suggested in the attached Final Report provide a significantly more appropriate approach to addressing the challenges we are facing in our vibrant, growing downtown. Parking supply, real solutions for downtown employees, managers, and business owners who need safe, reliable parking, and the interplay of parking needs in the downtown corridor and the adjacent residential neighborhoods are the primary challenges we currently face. As a group of vested downtown business owners, we stand ready to aid the effort to develop solutions and, importantly, to do so without the need for investments in an on-street paid parking strategy. We thank you for your support and understand now is the time to get to work on alternative solutions. The second reason for this letter is to offer our continued support and assistance and to request a status update from the Commission and/or City Manager and/or Parking Manager Veselik and 2 the next steps to timely address the aforementioned challenges; most notably, parking supply. Principally, we want to know what we, as a group, can do to be helpful to the process and finding and implementing solution(s). We understand there may be more than one solution, based on the alternatives presented in the Final Report. As an ad hoc committee, lacking any direct authority, funding sources, or expertise, we and the community rely on you, the elected City Commission and your City Manager and Parking Manager to continue the momentum, explore the alternatives, and implement solutions. The alternative financing options described in the Final Report were offered to provide for a second parking garage that, in our view, is preferrable to on-street paid parking. In addition, we implored the City Commission to consider and address, in parallel to the parking supply challenge, a mechanism that serves to provide reliable, safe, and economical parking options for those who work downtown – a necessity for the continued success of downtown businesses. Please see the enclosed Final Report for additional details. Respectfully, we request details regarding the status of parking supply planning efforts and suggest another City Commission work session be scheduled in the next month or two as a possible next step. This would allow for continued collaboration in a timely manner, to consider and prioritize alternatives and establish project milestones. It may also afford us with information as to what the City needs from us and possibly other downtown stakeholders, in order to achieve progress and success. In short, we want to continue the momentum, coordination, and progress made thus far. There is much to do, and we want to be a positive force for creating and maintaining the momentum toward finding solutions to address parking downtown – which we all agree is necessary. Again, we thank you for your kind consideration and look forward to your reply. Respectfully, Aaron Parker, Jam!/Revelry/Dave’s Sushi Albert Macdonald, Backcountry Burger/Pizza Campania Amy Kirkland, Altitude Gallery Babs Noelle, Owner Alara Jewelry Cory Lawrence, Kimpton Armory Hotel/Off the Beaten Path LLC Eric Bowman, Owenhouse Ace Hardware Joe Romano, Owner Urban Kitchen/Nina’s Sam Rickenbaugh, Great Rocky Mountain Toy Company Susan Neubauer, Fresco Café Vonda Laird, J&V Restaurant Supply