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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-09-25 Public Comment - M. Kaveney - City Commission and Boutique Hotel decision-thank you!! Please do pursueFrom:Marcia Kaveney To:Bozeman Public Comment Cc:Terry Cunningham; Jennifer Madgic; Douglas Fischer; Joey Morrison; Emma Bode; Chuck Winn Subject:[EXTERNAL]City Commission and Boutique Hotel decision-thank you!! Please do pursue Date:Wednesday, June 4, 2025 8:58:19 AM 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. Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners- This thank-you email is long overdue and I apologize for its delay. Too often you hear fromme about my concerns and not enough about my gratitude. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the good judgement the majority of the commission showed by voting to NOTapprove the deviation request for the Boutique Hotel. I wanted to jump up and down and clap and cheer but I respect the rules of the meeting so I sat quietly smiling. The watercourse setback is also a good rule! Thank you for enforcing it! I can't tell youenough how happy that made me and all those that opposed the encroachment. Honestly I didn't expect that decision and it left me hopeful for a better environmental directionfor Bozeman. Until last night that is, when Commissioner Fischer resurrected the Boutique Hotel conversation out of what seemed like left field. Please don't worry about the developer. They took a chance and it failed. It's part of doingbusiness and it was a good thing that the commission toed the line not bad. The more we, the City, uphold the codes the more they, the developers, will get used to it. There is no reason tocajole developers or anyone else that wants to encroach on watercourses. The staff certainly told the developer there were no guarantees. If they didn't, they should have. Robert Pertzbornalso knew the possibility of denial but perhaps like me, he has rarely seen it in action. But he, too, could have designed something without a deviation in it -- never mind all the parkingissues. Finally, the developer was well aware of the public and legal pushback when they withdrew their application a month prior. So, it was a shock and, frankly, disturbing to hear the conversation that began withCommissioners Fischer, Bode, and Madgic and then worse to hear the City Manager say they were already in conversation with the developer. I just have to ask why? I know beauty is inthe eye of the beholder, but this hotel isn't special. It's a big glass cube, huge windows (talk about bird issues and energy use), looks nothing like the character of this downtown, and willonly drain resources like housing, staffing, and water for people who don't live here. And it's a hotel- not housing. Does it really come down to the property taxes and tourist dollars? Please don't let your fear of having nothing built on that site guide your good judgement. Itwill come. No need to force it. Something better will come along if we let it. Patience please. And, thank you again for voting against the encroachment. Sincerely, Marcia Kaveney From:Marcia Kaveney To:Bozeman Public Comment Cc:Terry Cunningham; Jennifer Madgic; Douglas Fischer; Joey Morrison; Emma Bode; Chuck Winn Subject:[EXTERNAL]Re: City Commission and Boutique Hotel decision-thank you!! Please do pursue Date:Wednesday, June 4, 2025 12:29:58 PM 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. HI all- Subject line correction: I meant to write "Please do not Pursue". My apologies, that was probably confusing.I should also say that I believe it was Commissioner Fischer only that had expressed concern about the parking lot staying unbuilt at the Boutique Hotel hearing, and I didn't mean togeneralize that point. Thank you, Marcia On Wed, Jun 4, 2025 at 8:57 AM Marcia Kaveney <marciakaveney@gmail.com> wrote: Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners- This thank-you email is long overdue and I apologize for its delay. Too often you hear fromme about my concerns and not enough about my gratitude. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the good judgement the majority of the commission showed by voting to NOTapprove the deviation request for the Boutique Hotel. I wanted to jump up and down and clap and cheer but I respect the rules of the meeting so I sat quietly smiling. The watercourse setback is also a good rule! Thank you for enforcing it! I can't tell youenough how happy that made me and all those that opposed the encroachment. Honestly I didn't expect that decision and it left me hopeful for a better environmental directionfor Bozeman. Until last night that is, when Commissioner Fischer resurrected the Boutique Hotel conversation out of what seemed like left field. Please don't worry about the developer. They took a chance and it failed. It's part of doingbusiness and it was a good thing that the commission toed the line not bad. The more we, the City, uphold the codes the more they, the developers, will get used to it. There is no reasonto cajole developers or anyone else that wants to encroach on watercourses. The staff certainly told the developer there were no guarantees. If they didn't, they should have.Robert Pertzborn also knew the possibility of denial but perhaps like me, he has rarely seen it in action. But he, too, could have designed something without a deviation in it -- nevermind all the parking issues. Finally, the developer was well aware of the public and legal pushback when they withdrew their application a month prior. So, it was a shock and, frankly, disturbing to hear the conversation that began withCommissioners Fischer, Bode, and Madgic and then worse to hear the City Manager say they were already in conversation with the developer. I just have to ask why? I know beautyis in the eye of the beholder, but this hotel isn't special. It's a big glass cube, huge windows (talk about bird issues and energy use), looks nothing like the character of this downtown,and will only drain resources like housing, staffing, and water for people who don't live here. And it's a hotel- not housing. Does it really come down to the property taxes andtourist dollars? Please don't let your fear of having nothing built on that site guide your good judgement. It will come. No need to force it. Something better will come along if we let it. Patienceplease. And, thank you again for voting against the encroachment. Sincerely, Marcia Kaveney