06/25/07 Nevas to Council/StarlingMARC L. NEVAS
1475 West Reserve Drive
Kalispell, MT 59901
406-756-2332
June 25, 2007
Honorable Mayor and Council
of the City of Kalispell
c/o City Planning Dept.
17 2nd St. East, Suite 211
Kalispell, MT 59901
Dear Mayor Kennedy and Councilors:
My name is Marc Nevas and I am one of the neighbors situated directly north of the
proposed Starling Development. This is a very stable neighborhood of long term
residents with residencies of up to 25 years at this location. We witness the city rapidly
approach us and now reach us and go beyond the neighborhood. We watch this occurring
with a sense of alarm, not that the city is growing, but that it is being done with no
thought or consideration to those who currently live here and paid our taxes to support
the community for many years. And as Mr. Horne has pointed out it is about to be done
with no consideration to the goals and policies in the Kalispell Growth policy.
Specifically the neighbors whose quality of life and values of our homes are profoundly
impacted are being effectively shut out of the process. As taxpayers and citizens do we
not have a right to participate in the democratic process we support?
On June 21 st Jay Donelly of the Aspen Group was quoted in the Interlake regarding a 150
unit project the Aspen Group is starting in Whitefish. In a prepared statement he said "As
we develop our plan we will be speaking with the neighbors. The input of the community
and respect to the surrounding area is an integral part of our considerations as we fine
tune the designs for the site."
However the Aspen group has not taken this approach on the 3,000 unit plus 60 acres of
commercial development called Starling in front of you tonight. The approach taken for
tonight's hearing was summed up in the Interlake article on the Planning hearing on May
24th. The Article stated "(Greg) Stratton said the Aspen Group sometimes discusses plans
in advance with neighbors and sometimes does not —with the firm choosing not to in this
case."
And neither has the Planning department followed the guidelines in your Growth Policy
document. It did not follow the guidelines that say "Seek ways to provide avenues for
greater public participation in the development review process... and providing the
opportunity for meaningful public involvement. "
So upon receiving a phone call in mid May from one of my neighbors I duly took myself
down to the Planning office to see what this is all about. Holy cow! I had attended a small
presentation some months ago that was made to the Planning board so I know something
was coming sometime, but how in the world can I or my neighbors digest and comment
on a submittal of this size encompassing a zone change, a PUD and a Plat approval on 15
days notice with only one copy available from 9 to 5 in the Planning office!
I myself am a career real estate person. I have owned my own real estate company for 25
years and I have developed condos, offices, retail and subdivisions so I have a head start
on my neighbors in terms of dealing with this, but the massiveness and speed with which
this was delivered, with only a fraction of it available on the Planning web site effectively
shuts me and my neighbors out of the planning process.
I want to make it clear that what you have in front of you has absolutely nothing of the
neighbors input in it. Our opinions were not solicited and when we gave our opinions at
the Planning Board Public Hearing our concerns were not even discussed before making
a hasty decision on the largest development project in Kalispell's history.
In the past two weeks we have met with the developers twice at their invitation. They
have offered to hear our input on color palettes for the houses and limitation of uses on
the commercial, but have shown no inclination to budge on the issues that concern us the
most such as overall density, location of commercial uses adjacent to our existing
residential uses and location of the smallest lots rather than the largest lots adjacent to our
homes.
We are given a chance to see what their colors are but not give valuable input on how the
development can diminish it's impact on existing neighboring land owners.
We have not come here to stop the development, only to ask for small but extremely
meaningful and important changes. It was planned as if neighbors do not exist, but we do
and we are here in flesh and blood to tell you that. Because we exist the Northeastern part
of the development should reflect our existence, but it does not. It puts commercial next
to residential and small city homes on tiny lots next to rural style homes on rural lots.
And the density does not reflect that the development is in a suburban location, not urban.
The potential of a delay in the project in order to adjust it is a developer created hardship.
If the developer had taken the approach he states he is committed to in Whitefish and
heeded our concerns we would not even be in front of you tonight. But neither he nor the
Planning Board have made the process of approving Kalispell's largest development
project ever in any way a public access process. The letter of the law has been followed,
but not it's intent and the goals of the Growth Policy for public involvement have been
ignored.
So I and my neighbors request that the City Council remand this proposal back to the
Planning board and the steps outlined by Bob Horne be followed.
ank you,
� kl.,.— � q,
Marc Nevas