HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-14-16 Public Comment - S. Canfield - Black OlivePlease share this comment with the Design Review Committee & Design Review Board and
with the City Commission
To whom it may concern:
I am writing in regards to The Black Olive Apartment Building Site Plan, SP Application
16432.
I grew up in Bozeman, and although I am currently away, my family and I frequently visit. I
spent high school and after living with my mother and brother and sisters in a house near
the intersection of S. Bozeman and Olive Street, and my family and I hope to someday live
in Bozeman in that house again. My mother, sister and I still own the house at 205 S.
Bozeman, and we are bothered immensely by the possibility that an apartment building
five stories high could soon be just feet from our back porch.
As you would imagine, we are bothered by the Black Olive Apartment Building proposal
because of the privacy it will deny us at our home, and because it will mean more traffic in
the area and a serious lack of parking spaces (parking spaces on that block, incidentally, are
not in abundance as it is). But at least as worrisome to my family and I about the apartment
proposal is the long-term city planning predicament we are concerned will be created if the
project is allowed to go through.
The proposed building is massive and would be in a primarily residential, primarily
historic area of mostly single level, modestly-sized homes that house families.
The neighborhood is already tightly packed as it is, and parking is not easy to find, as
people who work or shop in the downtown area often park on our block or the blocks
surrounding. The proposed building has just 35 parking spaces, which is far too few for the
massive scale of the proposed structure. The proposal is for 16 studio apartments, 24 one
bedroom apartments, and 15 two bedroom apartments. If there were just one car per
apartment, regardless of size (which is likely a drastic underassessment), that would still
mean there would be 20 extra cars per day looking for area parking. Even 20 extra cars in
an already-congested area such as this would be too many. And during special events
downtown, parking would feel almost impossible.
The proposed building would bring much extra noise and activity to the area that will likely
make living in the neighborhood unpleasant for families who currently live there. If
families decide to move out, a different type of people – perhaps younger, single, and
looking for more noise and activity, such as college students – will move in, and the
demographic over time will completely change.
I know change is inevitable in any city, but it pains me to think of losing my neighborhood
to an apartment building that really belongs nearer campus, or nearer a newer, lesser
established community with more parking options instead. It is wonderful to live in a quiet
residential neighborhood so near downtown, Peets Hill/ Burke Park, the Linear Trail, and
Bogart and Lindley parks. Of course as Bozeman expands it would be wonderful to share
the pleasant experience of downtown living with more people, but I really think
development has to be undertaken wisely. There are still areas along East Main Street that
might be better locations for a massive building such as the one proposed. The intersection
of Black and Olive is not a good place for such a building.
I worry that if the city decides to allow development of the magnitude of the proposed
Black Olive Apartment Building in a thriving and historic neighborhood that is primarily
single and double-story single family homes, there is a danger that the modest homes that
currently house families will soon be replaced with towering eye-sore apartment buildings
like the Black Olive. I don’t like that possibility at all, and I think it would be bad for historic
downtown as the city continues to expand.
I think the project should either be scaled drastically down or rejected.
Regards and thanks for considering this,
Sabrina Canfield
504-940-7294