HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-19-24 Public Comment - S. Boyd - Reclaim the review authority for the GuthrieFrom:Scott and Frances Boyd
To:Terry Cunningham; Jennifer Madgic; Joey Morrison; Douglas Fischer; Emma Bode; Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Reclaim the review authority for the Guthrie
Date:Tuesday, December 17, 2024 6:00:13 PM
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Dear Bozeman Commissioners,
I am writing to request that the commission reclaim final review authority for application
22493, aka The Guthrie.
As you all are aware, the public comment period for this project falls during the Christmas and
New Year holidays, with two regularly scheduled commission meetings canceled as a result.
This abbreviated and condensed schedule only affords residents two days out of the comment
period to provide commentary to the commission in person, with tonight being the last
chance. By reclaiming review authority, you will provide an opportunity for the
disenfranchised to speak directly to you. Today I began my day in Texas on a long-planned
business trip. I had to cut that trip short and after 7 hours of travel, I returned home to be here
tonight. Not everyone has the flexibility and opportunity to modify their plans to present
themselves before you on such short notice. Not everyone has the means or ability to
communicate electronically and by limiting the option to speak directly to you their voices are
silenced. I think we all would agree that we observed deeply moving commentary at last
week’s meeting, which would be impossible to convey electronically.
Further, the commission reviewed the previous application by this developer rather than allow
for administrative review. It was through your careful consideration of the facts and
deficiencies of the application, some of which were brought forth by the public during your
review process, that you found it lacking and denied it. Contrarily, city staff found
HomeBase’s previous application sufficient and recommended its approval to you. Despite
that recommendation, you ultimately made the correct analysis that it did not meet the
requirements of the NCOD, the AHO deep incentives, or the UDC.
Because the deep incentives remain a novel ordinance with no completed projects utilizing it,
the initial project leveraging it warrants continued public, open review. The impacts of this
project on the neighborhood will be permanent and deep, forever changing the character of it.
With such high stakes, caution is necessary. Though this is a subsequent, third submission for
development by HomeBase, the site of the Guthrie and the potential negative impacts on the
neighborhood remain a constant, and the commission must provide continuity in the review
process of the Guthrie rather than staff. An updated application that lops off one floor without
changing any major project characteristics does not warrant staff administrative review.
Moreover, because the Affordable Housing Ordinance and the deep incentives are deficient
and lacking and because the updates to it are currently underway, it is incumbent upon the
commission to be the party to review this application. Because the applicant engages in
sophistry throughout the application such as mischaracterizing conditions of the
neighborhood and the building and misrepresenting the nature of meetings with residents of
the neighborhood, fairness demands that it be the commission to review the application. The
commission does not work closely with HomeBase on a day-to-day basis as the staff does,
with the many projects already built and in development, and it brings an unaffected,
disassociated perspective to the examination. Please reclaim your final review authority for
the Guthrie and allow the public’s voices to be heard.
Respectfully,
Scott Boyd