Tonight's work session Public Comment from Karlene KhorAimee Brunckhorst
From: mzlaura@cyberport.net
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2021 12:45 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Tonight's work session
Mayor Johnson, City Council Members, Doug Russell City Manager, City Planning Staff and City Staff
We live in a community unsupportive of government financed projects.
This 3rd & Main Request for Proposal, which is the subject of tonight's work session, is based on a future aspiration of
securing substantial taxes from the developer to offset the "give away." Many of us have seen government financed
projects like this fail miserably and, in the end, become a costly exercise to the community taxpayers and a headache
and financial burden for adjacent property owners.
In this instance there is the sense, the financial deal the city has offered was not offered to others. The Request for
Proposal states "The City of Kalispell is seeking proposals from development firms seeking to privately finance..." This
too no longer seems to be the case.
The selection of this particular site is problematic. It is in the Kalispell Downtown Historic District (Department of the
Interior). It faces the Main Street which is a federal/state highway (State of Montana and Federal Department of
Transportation). It is close to adjacent neighboring neighboring buildings of historic significance and design.
All these actors present an extraordinary risk to the developer of the 5-story hotel and the city of Kalispell.
Construction and deconstruction on this site will have impact on operating small businesses for two years at least. Has
the city and the developer considered how these small businesses will be compensated for their losses over this two
plus year construction project?
Has the city and the developer considered the structural impact on the adjacent buildings during the construction and
deconstruction phase of their project? How will the historic buildings be compensated for damages to their buildings?
Have any preparations or studies been prepared on these specific issues?
There seems to be, and I have not seen the math, a great deal of excitement on future taxation of this project; has there
been any studies conducted by the city or developer on how taxing this particular project will affect the neighboring
building owners tax liabilities who are not securing the same potential income as a five -story hotel? No other building
owner to my knowledge has been "given" a deal like this one from the city. Has the city made available to the public the
math formulations of which there is such excitement of future tax income to the city?
In other words, it is the wrong site for this development. There are other sites for development existing with less risks to
the developer and the city.
Notwithstanding, the appraisal used for the request for proposal was outdated before the closing date for submission to
the city. However, the appraisal did mention the Downtown Historic District on Main Street has 2 story structures not
five story structures. This structure would hardly conform to the look of the district. It also states no soil samples were
taken. This may not seem significant, but it is.
This city block has had a history of fires. In the early days of Kalispell, there was a fire which took over a great portion of
the block and smoldered for a week; and in current memory the Buffalo Building fire took its building to the ground. For
sure, the EPA has the potential of becoming another factor/actor for the developer and the city.
The vibrations from the pounding of the earth required for a basement floor and even the walls to the other buildings in
the Main Street neighborhood, the Main Street itself, can create damage of untold sums is more than problematic for
the developer and the city of Kalispell. We had the opportunity to speak with an engineer on this and I would also urge
council to do same before moving this forward.
La Lark LLC owns from our understanding one of the finest and only examples of Art Deco architecture in a building in
the entire Northwestern Montana. We have a legal easement between our adjacent building which is the building
directly to the north side of this development site. It is the only way our tenants can enter their apartments. Any
damage to the building next to us is of concern to us.
I have been disappointed to hear this early in the process, members of "the committee" tell me "It's a done deal." I am
also disappointed as a member of the Planning Board at the tail end of the work on the Downtown Plan; I can assure you
terminology written by the staff was met with reluctance to editing but still its intent was not for a Request for Proposal
like this one.
In fact, the very first time I ever heard of this Request for Proposal was the date of its closing. Many of the downtown
building owners especially those newly entered into the BID were also totally unaware.
In past, the city staff would visit with each building owner near a potential city project. It is very unfortunate this was
not the case as many of these issues could then have been re-examined.
Please council members press the pause button on this project.
Thank you,
Karlene Osorio-Khor
Manager, La Lark LLC
222 Main Street (224 Main Street)
Kalispell, Montana 59901
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