HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-15-16 Public Comment - C. Barnes - Black Olive11.15.2016
Dear Mayor Taylor, City Council Members, Planning and Design Review Board
members,
I live at 317 South Bozeman Avenue. When my husband, who was born and raised at
317 South 5th, and I decided to purchase a home in the Gallatin Valley, we chose to
live downtown. We have seen many changes since I arrived in the early 1980's.
Some for the good and some not so good for the city. Managing the direction of
growth in our city has now moved to critical, based upon proposed and current high
rise projects in the city.
I am extremely concerned about the Black Olive project for the following reasons:
1. The overall height and scale of the proposed building.
2. Long term parking and traffic issues.
3. Balconies as a solution for the open space requirement.
4. The architectural design does not fit with either the historical district,
buildings downtown or a western aesthetic.
5. The lack of a buffer between different zoning areas.
6. Design enforcement by the city.
I have heard and read many thoughtful comments by the citizens of Bozeman
regarding this current project. Please take the time to consider the input from the
citizens of Bozeman. We, the people, the citizens of Bozeman, are speaking very
clearly to our elected officials. Please heed our comments.
I recently filled out surveys regarding the direction that the citizens want our city
to move toward. Have you had the time to compile the results? If you haven't, I
would respectfully request that you table this project until the elected city
officials can get a better vision of how the citizens would like the city to grow.
There are cities in the west that grapple with growth and some very good solutions
have been implemented as a result. Perhaps you could look at what other
progressive cities have done. I would like to see more "green building"
considerations.
I have worked downtown for my entire career. I listen to what tourists have to say
about our town. I can tell you, it is not architecture like the Black Olive proposal or
the traffic snarls or the lack of parking that brings people here. They appreciate
the western architecture, open space and the slower pace of our city as compared
to others. I often hear negative comments about Denver and all the problems
associated with a city of this size and scope. People do not want Bozeman to
become another Austin, or Denver or Portland.
It is troublesome that the city is not taking responsibility for the parking issue.
There have been many unrealistic comments made about people either riding bikes
or only having one car. I am a downtown biker. I obey the traffic laws and use bike
lights and still feel very vulnerable on the road. Motorists treat small streets and a
one way and generally ride in the center of the street, especially when there are
parked cars and snow drifts. Downtown employees have very little parking choices
and park in neighborhoods. I am very unhappy to have to pay additional monies to
protect parking in our neighborhood. This is not the solution for the parking
problems faced by downtown businesses.
In closing, we have an opportunity to re-vision Bozeman and turn it into one of the
"coolest" small cities in the west. Green buildings, interesting architecture,
existing neighborhoods peacefully co-existing with medium rise buildings are
attainable if we take the time to consider what is in the best interest of our city
going forward.
Please vote NO to the proposed project as it stands now and consider a moratorium
on all 5 story buildings until a more cohesive plan for the city is submitted and
approved by the citizens of Bozeman.
Sincerely,
Cynthia D Barnes
317 South Bozeman Avenue