Ten Commandments, Story Mill before commission
Monday December 11, 2006
Controversial issues expected to draw extensive public testimony at tonight’s meeting
By CAMDEN EASTERLING Chronicle Staff Writer
The Ten Commandments and the major Story Mill Center subdivision top the Bozeman City Commission’s Monday night agenda.
Both issues have generated plenty of public comment in recent months, so the commission could be in for a lengthy night of citizen testimony.
The placement of a Ten Commandments mon ument in public downtown Soroptimist Park is up first.
The commissioners will debate two options: Placing a Ten Commandments monument in the park, where it has been for decades, or working with the Bozeman Fraternal Order of Eagles and St. James Episcopal Church to put the object in a privately-owned park.
The city removed the monument from Soroptimist Park, located at the corner of Main Street and Rouse Avenue, earlier this year in order to renovate the land.
Since then, numerous citizens in letters to the editors and at public meetings have argued about whether the Commandments should be displayed in a public space.
“There is no shortage of interest in this subject,” City Manager Chris Kukulski wrote in a recent memo to commissioners, “and offers have been made to pay any costs associated with retaining the monument Soroptimist Park as well as … other prominent locations throughout our city.”
The Eagles, which gave the city the monument about 35 years ago, and St. James will consider housing the Ten Commandments at the church’s Canterbury Park at the corner of Olive Street and Tracy Avenue. An informal review of the Story Mill redevelopment plan immediately follows the Ten Commandments discussion. The development covers about 90 acres off North Rouse Avenue/Bridger Drive, near the historic Story Mill. The developer, Blue Sky Development of Bozeman, plans to build about 1,100 residential units and 150,000 square feet of commercial space said Matt Crocker of Blue Sky. “Just feedback on what our ideas are,” is what the group hopes to gain Monday night, Crocker said.
The company wants to build a pedestrian-oriented, environmentally friendly, economically diverse neighborhood, developers said. The project, though, has been controversial because Blue Sky plans to dismantle the Bridger View Mobile Home Park in a few years. Blue Sky is working with residents to help them relocate their homes or to buy the trailers from them. “They’ve definitely done more than they legally have to,” Commissioner Sean Becker said of the group’s efforts. The commission Monday night won’t vote on the project but will offer comments and suggestions.
Also on the agenda is a proposal by PT Land of , Bozeman to subdivide into 18 commercial lots about 47 acres of land bordered by Baxter Lane, West Oak Street and North 15th and 11th avenues. The City Commission meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Gallatin County Courthouse.
Camden Easterling is at ceasterling@dailychronicle.com
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