HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-20-24 Public Comment - L. Miklush - Site Plan #22047From:Lisa Miklush
To:Agenda
Cc:Lisa Miklush
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Site Plan #22047
Date:Monday, February 19, 2024 2:25:56 PM
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To: Bozeman City Commission, City of Bozeman
From: Lisa Miklush, 3775 Ellis View Loop, Bozeman, 59715;
lisami0320@gmail.com
Dear Bozeman City Commission,
I’m writing to express my concern over the recent approval of Site Plan #22047
in the Sundance Spring Subdivision. As a resident of this city, I, along with my
neighbors, expect the Director of Community Development and the City
Attorney to follow the law and uphold the PUD’s binding covenant guidelines.
The City has the obligation and authority to protect our neighborhoods from
degradation from incompatible development. I’m asking that you consider the
residents who will be impacted by your decisions and overturn the approved
project #22047.
For 25 years, the City has enforced The Sundance Spring PUD, which provides
strong protection for the public open spaces that were incorporated into the
subdivision. Now, that the formal record of the PUD's requirements is missing,
suddenly, the City Attorney and Community Development Director are
redefining the terms of the PUD by hand-selecting limited pieces of the public
record (namely, just the Commission's Conditions of Approval for the PUD's
preliminary application) to represent the terms of the PUD. Other evidence of
the PUD's requirements in the public record are being ignored.
The City Attorney claims, without access to the approved final plan, that he
knows the terms of the PUD better than experienced planners who actually
reviewed the PUD's Approved Final Plan when they made their determinations.
Case and point is the 2020 Concept Review for the Site Plan in question. In
2020, when the Approved Final Plans were available to consult, the City Planner
concluded that the PUD's Master Plan implemented the B-1 District from the
1992 zoning ordinance. Now that the Approved Final Plan is missing, the City
Attorney claims, without evidence, that the planner was in error, and the City
attorney states that the historical zoning does not apply.
When authoritative documents go missing, it is customary to look at the
remainder of the public record assuming it is factual and correct in order to
understand what the missing documents required. Instead, the city is using the
uncertainty associated with the loss of the Approved Final Plan as an excuse to
overturn long-standing policies of the City. For 25 years, while the Approved
Final Plan existed, the City enforced the Sundance Springs PUD Master Plan and
Covenants & Development Guidelines. And now that the Approved Final Plan is
missing, the City has reversed its long-held position and claims that the
surviving Master Plan map is a "Concept Sketch" and that Covenants &
Development Guidelines are "private agreements" that need not be enforced.
Bozeman now feels like a lawless wild west of development, where developers
push the City relentlessly to ignore the purpose and intent of the Unified
Development Code and insist that Staff take a reductionist approach to
interpreting the code. Enough is enough. It's time to start enforcing the code
with the City, not the developers, calling the shots. It's time to put necessary
teeth back in enforcement to ensure that developments like Site Plan #22047
don't get approved until they are fully compliant with the UCD. The developer
has reached approval by obfuscating the requirements of the PUD while
making a mockery of the intent of the Block Frontage Standards.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the need for the City Government to
rebuild trust with the residents of this City. Overturning the errant decision of a
seemingly politically-motivated Director of Community Development seems like
a good place to start rebuilding trust. Trust is built when the government does
what it said it will do. 25 years ago, the City Commission approved the
Sundance Spring PUD, and in doing so, provided assurances that the Master
Plan and Covenants & Development Guidelines would be enforced. It's time to
make good on those assurances.
The City has all of the authority it needs to protect open spaces and public
trails, promote public safety, and enforce the intent of the UDC. I am asking
you to make the decision to reassert your authority over the development
chaos that grips this City. You can begin that process today by overturning the
approval of Site Plan #22047.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Miklush PhD, RN