HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-13-15 Wilkinson Public Comment Koch Thank you Mayor Krauss and City Commissioners: My name is Todd Wilkinson and my
family lives at 415 South Third Avenue.
I'm here to talk about 402 W. Koch, located across South Fourth from us.
Nobody demolishes a historic home in Bozeman's much-beloved historic districts by
accident. In fact, the local authority on Bozeman history, Derek Strahn, who was formerly
the city's respected historic preservation officer, can't remember a recent instance of this
happening. The reason is that safeguards are supposed to exist, demanding careful prior
approval, justification based on facts not hearsay, public involvement, methodical non-
impetuous thinking, and malting sure that building projects are carried out by competent
licensed professionals and architects.
We wouldn't be here tonight, nor would fellow Bozemanites be in an uproar, had the
homeowners at 402 W. Koch spent just 10 seconds making a single phone call to the city,
requesting a demolition permit as required by law. They knew they needed to obtain a
written demolition permit, their architect knew they needed a permit, and by code, the
heavy machinery person they enlisted to tear into the structure should have demanded to
see their client's written demo permit on site.
Whether a demolition permit would have been granted is another matter.
What happened a week ago, as the local historian said, was unprecedented. This isn't
about whether a given homeowner is purportedly a "good guy" or whether he's expressing
contrition now and pleading for leniency after the fact. This is about what You do and
what bind of signal the city commission sends so that this land of very unfortunate and
preventable act in Bozeman's historic district is neither tolerated nor encouraged.
The message you send becomes the precedent. Rest assured, it is going to be cited by
others, some with plenty of cash (and quite possibly by their lawyers), who may decide to
simply scrape historic structures and pay a fine as a perceived nominal cost of doing
whatever they want.
Or, depending on your action, they may think twice, as this homeowner should have done.
No matter what excuse is offered, the truth is that all the homeowners needed to do was
pause, take a time out, pick up the phone and call the city.
They apparently didn't do that. They didn't stop until after they decided to completely
raze the home and then contacted the city only after neighbors and their own architect
expressed horror. For the record, unless demonstrated otherwise, it was shocked
neighbors who first informed the city what was happening.
Thank you for your time.
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