Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-05-15 Peck Zakovi Public Comment January 5, 2015 Re: Zak Zakovi Conditional Use Permit Application Hearing at the Monday,January 12, 2015 Bozeman City Commission Meeting Our names are Ken& Kristin VanDeWalle.We live at 408 North Plum Ave. and Y f are one of the closest neighbors to Zak Zakovi. r � We are submitting our comments early in hopes that if any questions arise while reviewing the Zakovi CUP Issue,that we are available to answer any ' questions you might have of the 'neighbors'. - — Zak Zakovi has harassed,faulted and antagonized our family for his plight.The photos at the left show the recent harassment—arriving home with kids in the _. car to find Zak coming out of our bushes with camera and tape measure,then staring at us from our drive as we approached;And a sign he had up for a month or more pointing to our legally parked Airstream as 'The Aluminum 2Q33:08.20 Turd by Ken VanDeWalle'. Because of this and past irrational behavior,we will - , most likely not attend the hearing out of concern that his anger will be redirected toward our family instead of the zoning violations at hand. We have attached some letters and documents that might offer more insight into the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Zak Zakovi's plight and a T"t rukn� ,! compelling issue of a foundry that Zak has'silently' added back into his i application. Many have asked,as neighbors of Zak Zakovi,what do we want out of this? Unfortunately,what we want is not at issue in front of the city commission and cannot be resolved through the city.We just want Zak Zakovi to leave his surrounding neighbors alone,stop harassing us for any and every thing that irritates him.We have tried to make amends, be good neighbors and have tried to have the situation mediated, but to no avail. • As artists ourselves,we appreciate the craft and time he puts into his sculptures, however,this does not exclude him from following the same rules he has used against his neighbors for the past 17 years. Because of Zak Zakovi's constant barrage against us over the years,we have met with and have complied with all planning department requests and are in 100%compliance. Zak Zakovi should be held to the same standards that he requires of his neighbors. • We are advocates and participants of the unique character of the Northeast Neighborhood and do not want this character to be sanitized.We fear that Zak Zakovi will use the unique character of our neighborhood as his defense and put the neighborhood in jeopardy of 100%compliance. • Regarding the foundry issue; Zak Zakovi lost his vested right to have a bronze foundry back in 1992, in large part because of the late Jim Barnaby's attempt to put conditions on Zak Zakovi's use of a foundry.Zak Zakovi has expanded his current Conditional Use Permit to include an active foundry.We do not know enough about the health hazards of the off-gassing of a bronze foundry in a dense neighborhood situation, but do put a lot of merit into the 1991 petition that the late Jim Barnaby had put together along with other concerned neighbors and artists. We have the upmost respect in the process and have faith that you will render a reasonable resolution to Zak Zakovi's CUP hearing, but we hope that you will take into consideration that he follow the same standards he has so relentlessly imposed against his neighbors. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call or email us. Thank you for your time, Ken & Kristin VanDeWalle 408 North Plum Ave.( Bozeman, MT 59715 1406.581.6149 1 vandewalle@bigsky.net rearranges them and has always welcomed the public to walk among his sculptures.Zak always works inside his studio to minimize the noise of doing his work and does not work in the Chain of emails regarding Zak Zakovi Sculpture Garden on the NENA Google Group evenings or after dark.He has ask the snow plow operators is his placement along the right of way is ok by them,it is. On Mon,Oct 20,1014 at 10:10 AM,Paul House cbozemancottage@gmaii.com> wrote: I endorse the location of Zak's sculpture garden and asks the City Commission to find a way to I Open letter to NENA members Signed date This letter was written by Zak in search of support for maintaining the location of his sculpture garden at 417 N Plum Ave. Zak contacted me since I am vice president of NENA and I recently took a tour of his place. I am posting this on Questions?Call or email the administrator Julie Belschwender at ibelschwender@_vahoo.com or call her at 570-7063 behalf of Zak until he sets up membership to this google group. He welcomes everyone to contact him directly by phone with questions. 582.9703,email at zak@zakzakovi.com or stop by for a tour. His web site is www.zakzakovi.com This issue is coming up To post to this group,send email to ne-neighborhood@nooglegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group,send email to soon so if you are inclined,please act now.This letter can be signed and sent to the city commission,or returned to Zak ne-neighborhood-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com to put in his pile of support letters. For more options,visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ne-neighbc)rhood?hl=en Thanks,Paul You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups"North East Neighborhood Association Letter of Endorsement of Zak's Sculpture Garden NENA"group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,send an email to ne- Along Plum Avenue,sculptor Zak Zakovi has a sculpture garden.There are 18 stone and steel neighborhood+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. sculptures displayed in front of his studio.People are welcome to wander through the pieces and For more options,visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. to turn the wind mobiles,a kid's delight. Recently the City received a complaint from the neighbor across the street after he and Zak had a disagreement over where the neighbor was parking his Airstream trailer.The complaint was that Zak has placed his sculptures on the City right of way and on his property known as the 15-Foot From:"Kenneth VanDeWalle"<vandewalle@bigskv.net> setback,which is the area 15 feet from his property line back toward his house. Date:October 20,2014 at 12:55:06 PM MDT To:<ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com> According to zoning regulations no structures can be place on the setback,and the city considers Subject:RE:Zak Zakovi Sculpture Garden Encroachment Issue Zak's sculptures structures,even though they are temporary and movable.The City sent the Reply-To:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com Code Compliance Officer(CCO)out to verify the violation and then the sent Zak a letter giving him 8 days to remove the 18 sculptures in violation.Zak went to the Planning office and was As neighbors of Zak Zakovi,we have tried to stay clear of Zak's public appeal and let the city's planning and police given 60 days to file for a Conditional Use Permit and Encroachment permit,which would be departments handle the issues. heard by the City Commission and granted or denied. Unfortunately,we feel we must get into the fray and let our neighbors know the other side of the story. In the interim Zak has engaged an attorney and posted a letter to the editor as well as run an add asking for support from the neighbors and community at large.The response has been The surrounding neighbors of Zak Zakovi on North Plum Ave.have been harassed and threatened by Zak Zakovi for a tremendous.This request to have the Northeast Neighborhood Association(NENA)members endorse the sculpture very,very long time.We have been harassed by him for over 16 years(Thompson's and McLaughlin's for 35 yearsl).The i garden is very important to persuading the City Commission to grant an exception to the R-2 zoning ordinance. current sculpture garden issue is a result of Zak's failure to comply with regulations he proposed when he pursued a special use permit some years back.(Inform yourself and read his file for yourself at the Bozeman Planning Department, Zak has nowhere else to put his sculptures;he does not want to give them away they represent this is public record.)The issue only came to light when he called the police on us to move our travel trailer because he 87,000 dollars of his hard work from 1997 to now.His sculpture garden is also his show room did not want to look at it. where clients select a piece and or develop a commission of one they want to purchase.This action by the city has also jeopardized Zak's grandfather status granted him in 1992 when the We,as neighbors have tolerated his constant barrage of complaints and threats against us,and have tried to work it out City changed the zoning from M-1 to R-3.If Zak does not receive permission from the city to as good neighbors and have complied with the city when he has filed complaints against us(just last week,we had to retain the sculpture garden and if he does not remove the sculptures he could lose his grandfather take down our tree fort because it was 18"into the setback status and have to close his studio;according to Wendy Thomas Planning Director. -another Zak complaint and now our boys have no tree fort to play in.We did not complain about his craft,artistry or the noise and machinery he generates to create his art work,we just asked the police officer if there were any codes to having your personal tombstone,signage and large rocks on the edge of the road.We had no idea about his 1992 site Zak is requesting that NENA members support leaving his sculpture garden where it is.He plan issue. carries public liability Insurance on them,they are not attached to the ground,he frequently Just a samplingof his recent harassment against us include:Yelling insults to our son on his trumpet lam Putting a He was clear) resentful then of the new zoning and perhaps still is since he has not followed through with the B P playing BI B Y B P P B bag over our entry light and writing on it the light is too bright(He has 5 yard lights that stay on all night arrangement he made with the city. long.)I Complaining to the Planning Department that we'Beautified our Entry&Right of Way'I Announcing from his balcony,in his pajamas that he was going to bed and we needed to wrap up what we were doing outside(a June Zac-If you want my support and tolerance,you have to model support and tolerance.I want to know that you have evening,9:15 at night)I driving home with son's From an errand one evening and having Zak walk out of our bushes in stopped harassing your neighbors and have made some sort of strides to either apologize to them for the complaining front of us(we have photos of this and a report is on file with the Bozeman Police Department)I creepily staring at our and tattling you have done over the past two plus decades or otherwise improve the relationship.The northeast boys when they are walking down the street I putting out defamatory signage about us on his property. neighborhood takes pride in it's quirkiness and tolerance of all types,but we cannot tolerate harassment and bullying. We felt strongly that being part of an urban neighborhood meant trying to be a good neighbor.We have tried to deal Zac-You do not seem like an innocent victim here.Perhaps you should have thought about your own non-compliance with Zak's harassment in various ways over the past 16 years by:Trying to Appease Zak with landscaping and lifestyle before hassling the neighbors about theirs.It is time that you become compliant with the city,too.It is also time that changes...didn't work.Trying to Ignore Zak's letters,yelling,growling and threats...didn't work.Trying to Befriend Zak you stop wasting our tax dollars and city employee's time with these petty arguments and try to get along with your with peace offering,dinner,wild game meat,cookies,treats...didn't work.Now it has come to the law and he blames neighbors.If,as you say,you"frequently rearrange them",then please rearrange your stone sculptures in accordance to his tangled web on his neighbors. city code and you can get back to your life and work. We appreciate the history and Fabric of the NE neighborhood and worry he will continue to retaliate against others in Thank you, the neighborhood because if he needs to be in compliance then everyone else should be-he certainly has made sure all his neighbors are compliant.Please support the surrounding neighbor's by asking him to leave his neighbors alone and Marcia Kaveney to accept responsibility for what he had told the city he would do-those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. PS. Going Forward,to NENA board members-perhaps we can discuss the purpose of this email service at next NENA meeting and what kind of forum we want to see it used for. Thanks. j Mr.Zakovi is a victim of himself,not his neighbors or the Bozeman Planning Department. Thank you, Kristin&Ken VanDeWalle From:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com f mailto:ne-neighborhood@google groups.comI On Behalf Of Daniel Center Sent:Thursday,October 23,2014 11:15 PM To:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com Cc:zak@zakzakovi.com From:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com Subject:Re:Zak Zakovi Sculpture Garden Encroachment Issue (mailto:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com)On Behalf Of Marcia Kaveney Sent:Wednesday,October 22,20141:45 PM I have to agree with Ken and Marcia on this.My family has definitely experienced a lack of neighborly tolerance from To:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com Zak.His letter says,"People are welcome to wander through the pieces and to turn the wind mobiles,a kid's delight"but Cc:zak@zakzakovi.com my family was harassed when walking the public street in Front of his house.There was no sense that his property Subject:Re:Zak Zakovi Sculpture Garden Encroachment Issue welcomed the public.If Zak's sculptures are in the setback then there's no possibility of a sidewalk,which means we have to walk in the road.And then still be harassed?No thank you,Zak.Your sculptures are unique,whimsical,and beautiful but you do not have my support. Hello neighbors- Sincerely, Thank you Ken and Kristin for speaking up about the troubles you have been having.Thattakes a lot of courage especially in light of possible retaliation.I wholly appreciate your honesty and am very sorry to hear of the harassment Dan Center you have been dealing with.I am also very sorry to see the tree fort go.I am sure your kids and their friends will miss that oasis. i From:"Jeanne&Paul Wesley-Wiese"<lazarusstudio@gmail.com> I would encourage all who respond to this issue cc Zak a copy of their response at zak@zakzakovi.com,because although Date:Oct 25,2014 8:13 AM his letter was posted,he is not a member of this email service and will not be reading your comments unless he joins. Subject:Re:Zak Zakovi Sculpture Garden Encroachment Issue Please remember also,that his letter was printed as a courtesy and in no way implies support by the NENA board To:<ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com> members. Cc: I moved to the neighborhood in 1990 and was an instant fan of Zak's stone I am opposed to the use of public right of ways being taking over by adjoining property owners which in my opinion work. But personally I've given Zac a wide berth since since first meeting creates a major safety issue for pedestrians in our neighborhood especially if you walk the streets(because that is him while canvassing the neighborhood to garner support for a zoning issue. what you have to do)with young children. If the City Is so concerned about a 6 inch crack being fixed on the sidewalks that do exist in our neighborhood then they should stop giving away our public right of ways and make the adjoining i property owners provide some sort of path or walk(I don't think we should be fixated on concrete)on those right of ways. Jeanne Wesley-Wiese On Oct 27,2014,at 1:21 PM,Kathy Johnson<Kathv@lumaclar.com>wrote: Thank you Ken and Kristen for the full disclosure. And thank you Marcia for taking a stand. I agree with you that Zak needs to'model support and tolerance'.It's clear to us,that whatever way this dispute works out,Zak will not be satisfied.If he is asked to move his sculptures,he'll be infuriated.If he isn't required to move his sculptures,he'll be empowered. Either way he will continue(probably more so)with the bullying. Seems the situation needs counselors thrown at,not lawyers. And even though it seems a no-win situation for everyone,we do not endorse Zaks sculptures in the right-of-way.When he called the city to have the kids tree house removed(due to set-backs), he set the precedent for his own yard. Its all just too sad. Doug and Kathy Johnson From!ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com [mailto•ne-neighborhood@¢ooglegrouos.comj On Behalf Of Merry McKenney i Sent:Monday,October 27,20141:46 PM To:ne-neighborhood@googlegroups.com Cc:zak@zakzakovi.com Subject:Re:Zak Zakovi Sculpture Garden Encroachment Issue I do not know what Zak looks like,but once while walking past this house with the sculptures I was screamed at by a man in this yard,that I am assuming was Zak. I found this disturbing enough to avoid walking on this street ever since! I do feel that if he is to live within city limits then he needs to comply like the rest of us. M McKenney Sent from my iPhone I I LETTER OF CITIZEN CONCERN August 20, 1991 To: City Commission RE: Minor Site Plan Application- Zak Zakovi Classification of an M-2 use as assesory in M-1 and subject to 6 conditions. We have just learned that a classification was created for an applicant's bronze foundry to allow it as an assessory use pursuant to 6 conditions. We question the wisdom of the decision to exclude neighborhood input both to allow a bronze foundry in Blk 51 and in defining the conditions for foundry operation. Not one member of the DRC could address the impacts from noise and smoke and no one on the committee is qualified to address the technical health & safety requirements related to the various operations in making a bronze object_ Bronze foundries have already been classified as M-2 uses since 1989 when the Campeau application pitted the residents against the business owners in the area. To have created a new use by calling it assessory is unacceptable and ignores the health & safety concerns that all metal casting activity has in common regardless of scale. Also, we cannot assume this will be a small scale operation since one sculpture can contain hundreds of pounds of bronze. We understand that any appeal to this exclusive decision can be made in District Court. Regarding the 6 conditions we have the following concerns: 1.. One pour per week has not been clearly defined. From the foundry operator's point of view, that usually means the day that all the molds one has prepared for castirp are poured. The second pour takes less time to reach temperature than the first and a medium sized sculpture could use well over 30 lbs of bronze requiring multiple pours. Exactly what is the intent of this condition? Can it be realistically enforced? 2. ENFORCEMENT. Although conditions were created by the commission to address the scale of the operation, and basically to limit that scale to a one man operation, there is no assurance that any of the 6 conditions will be complied with except the 120 so ft enclosure. What assurance do we have that that compliance with the other conditions will occur; one pour per week, work for self only, that all work occur indoors? What assurance do we have that the enclosure will contain noise levels to code? Smoke levels? Metal and wax fumes? 3. Several important issues were not included as conditions: a. That the burn-out kiln include a wax-recovery system. No description of the burn-out kiln was provided by the applicant at the DRC and no pertinent questions were asked about its operation. b. That the mold-cleaning solvent to be used be noted with the DRC and considered for safety, handling, and waste disposal. c. That all acids used for patinas be noted with the DRC with a provision for storage and waste disposal. d. That the burden of proof of acceptable noise levels rest with the applicant. The applicant needs either to construct the addition with sound-proofing materials while meeting fire codes, or submit to the DRC the decibel/octave band readings performed by the sanitarian or other qualified person, for each piece of foundry equipment and all power tools. The allowable values are defined in the zone code. January 3, 2015 TO: CITY COMMISSION regarding ZAKOVY I believe Zak's notoriety is getting people confused. First if you lived in this neighborhood you would understand more of what is going on. He complained about the way neighbors parked their cars, about dogs barking, about how bad the kids play their instruments, made kids take down their tree fort on their own property, complained about right of ways on other peoples property. He also complained about the neighbors light in their drive way as being to bright. He has 5 lights on at his place. He even put a sack over his neighbors light on their own property. We all lived with that and he doesn't have any idea who turned him in (as he says he does). It could have been the whole neighborhood. We have complained about his steady grinding many times because of the constant noise we have to listen to as he does all his work outside his building. That is not what the problem is all about. The law says he is on public property and I pay taxes on public property. I don't want his sculptures on any part of it. It is unsafe for cars to stop there as they have to park in the driving lane and look. I have passed several cars by going in the opposite lane to get to my house. If someone runs into his sculptures,who would pay the damage to that persons car, or would he sue the city for damage to his sculptures. When the snow plow cleans our streets, the snow pile has to stay in the streets which makes it a very narrow path on Plum Ave. Nobody seems to care about the people who live in this area, except the people who live in this area. I have lived in my house here for 55 years, and Zak is the only problem we have had here. No one is asking Zak to move or get rid of his sculptures. Zak just has to move things off the right of way. The right of way is still there whether it is a business or private property. Zak had permission to have his foundry, but he was not given permission to put in it on the right of way property. That is public property. If anyone hurt themselves on his sculptures, he is liable for a law suit. Also there is more that one neighbor that is complaining on this situation. There are a few us that have lived in this neighborhood for over 50 years plus. Thank you, Dallas &Norma Thompson 326 North Plum Bozeman, Mt 59715 (406) 597-0198 Dear Bozeman City Commission, My name is David Peck and I live at 5801 Cottonwood Rd, Bozeman MT. I would have attended this public hearing but I was called away for a funeral. l want you to know that I have been an observer of this neighborhood conflict between the VanDeWalles and Zak Zakovi for years. I have never met Zak in person but I have often noticed and appreciate his sculpture. I know the VanDeWalles well and I regard them as salt of the earth people. They are educated, honest, hardworking and approachable.They are talented artists in their own right. I'm not an artist but 1 am the son of an artist, the brother of an artist and the father of an artist. I am a huge fan of the arts. I get the feeling from reading and listening to community commentary, that there is an outpouring of support for Zak and that the VanDeWalles have been made out to be a villain. In my opinion, this couldn't be further from the truth. This situation is not the result of a neighbor treading on the rights of a starving artist but it's a story about a neighborhood bully. It's a story about years of abuse, intimidation and unnecessary complaints by Zak. Due to Zak's misguided actions, this situation has boiled over and become a civil issue that is now threatening his sculpture display on Plum St. I don't believe that Zak deserves a variance or any special consideration. He has brought this scrutiny on himself. The VanDeWalles have attempted on numerous occasions to befriend Zak and reach an understanding about their differences. Upon each attempt to calm the tension, the VanDeWalles had come away with a guarded sense of relief. In time, Zak has broken the calm and lashed out at them. For those of you that are sympathetic to Zak and his plea for understanding, I ask that you consider the distress and hardship that he has imposed on the Van DeWalle family. Thank you. David Peck