HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-13-25 Public Comment - D. Carty - Public Comment for INC Meeting, March 13, 2025From:Emily Kiely
To:Daniel Carty
Cc:Joey Morrison; Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:RE: [EXTERNAL]Public Comment for INC Meeting, March 13, 2025
Date:Thursday, March 13, 2025 9:35:41 AM
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your comment. I have forwarded your comment along to all INC reps.
Emily Kiely | Community Engagement Coordinator
City of Bozeman
Office: 406-582-2274 | Cell: 406-595-6585
ekiely@bozeman.net
she/her/hers
Register at Engage Bozeman to stay up to date on City projects!
From: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2025 9:31 AM
To: Emily Kiely <ekiely@BOZEMAN.NET>
Cc: Joey Morrison <jmorrison@BOZEMAN.NET>; Bozeman Public Comment
<comments@BOZEMAN.NET>
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Public Comment for INC Meeting, March 13, 2025
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(Please distribute to the INC board for their March 13, 2025, meeting. And, please file in the
INC folder.)
March 13, 2025; 9:30 a.m.
Dear Inter-Neighborhood Council representatives:
I am writing as an individual to introduce the following issue for future consideration by the
INC:
In Bozeman's older neighborhoods, does the first-time construction of
City-required sidewalks put publicly owned, mature trees and shrubs
at risk of removal by the City's own authority?
This issue, although ongoing for many years, first caught my attention during the March 11,
2025, City Commission public hearing on Application 24655, the Alsentzer Variance for 701
N. Montana Ave.1 During that hearing, the Commission seemed to be conducting two
parallel discussions—the formal variance discussion (voted on, variance denied) and an
informal compromise discussion (not voted on). The compromise discussion included
brainstorming ideas from the Commission, applicant, and City staff about how the City and
property owner could work together to construct a City-required sidewalk that would
maximize the protection of publicly owned, mature vegetation fronting the redevelopment at
701 N. Montana Ave. Listed below are my impressions of some of the positive ideas that
came out of the compromise discussion:
(1) City Planner Zachary Moon made the following comment during his City staffpresentation (approx. 1 h 30 min into the meeting video), roughly: “...situationally, the City is
amenable to alternative sidewalk sections especially insofar as it has some purpose to, atleast in these cases, preserve old growth [aka mature] vegetation. So, it’s important to note
that while there is some aspect which kind of pits old growth against pedestrianconnectivity, the two can, of course, work together in harmony without necessarily being at
the expense of each other.”
(2) The Commission encouraged City staff and the applicant to effect a compromise forconstructing the sidewalk in question.
(3) City staff and the applicant seemed to be willing to work together "on the ground" to
effect a compromise for constructing the sidewalk in question.
In conclusion—and completely setting aside the particulars of Application 24655—thelarger issue may be how to avoid future conflict and controversy re the issue: does the first-
time construction of City-required sidewalks put publicly owned, mature trees and shrubs atrisk of removal by the City's own authority? Ultimately, future conflict and controversy may
be inevitable as long as new development and redevelopment remain patchwork in natureand are not well-and-comprehensively planned for the City's older neighborhoods.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Daniel Carty
213 N. 3rd. Ave. Bozeman, MT
1 City Commission meeting, March 11, 2025, 1 h 20 min 40 sec to 2 h 57 min of meetingvideo:
https://bozeman.granicus.com/player/clip/2444?view_id=1&redirect=true
cc: Deputy Mayor Joey Morrison and comments@bozeman.net for the public record
