HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-15-16 Public Comment - B. Stoddart - Black OliveDear Commissioners,
Thank you for taking the time to review the Black Olive project. I think this development
is particularly important because of its distance from the downtown core, its proximity
to several historic residential neighborhoods and its likely impact on both parking and
traffic infrastructure in the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, we are inheriting legacy zoning that pushes the B-3 downtown historic
zone beyond its logical boundaries at this period in our town's development. A natural
divide on the north side of Olive certainly exists with the Federal building and the
Blackmore apartments already facing the streetscape. While the current Professional
building may suggest overtones of commercial space, it's mass and scale are far more
congruent with the adjacent neighborhood than the proposed project. We should
consider whether the scale of the proposal can be managed in accordance with the
Design Review Guidelines for the dominant architecture and purpose of the
surrounding neighborhood.
In addition, the proposed parking relative to its downtown location in concert with the
unintended use of Olive as an arterial to travel east without the imposition of traffic-
calming signals found on Main St or the hassle of trying to cross Main St, already
overburdens this neighborhood. While we all can appreciate the various events that
celebrate our downtown and that bring others to share in our neighborhood, not all of
us have the ability to convert our small parcels into off-street parking lots. It is
interesting that residences within 1/4 mile of the Black Olive will have dramatically
greater parking requirements on a per resident basis than the Black Olive itself.
Regardless, the sheer number of units, coupled with the inclusion of ground floor
commercial space such as the proposed retail coffee shop, will have significant impacts
on neighborhood residential parking that must be assessed.
And last, the traffic on Olive Street is already beyond its carrying capacity at many times
of the day. Adding no fewer than 50 cars to the neighborhood will truly overburden this
side street, especially during the winter when it is reduced to a one-way street 4 - 5
months out of the year.
I would ask the commission to, at the very least, ask the developer to conduct a study of
both the parking and traffic impacts of the proposed development so that we can sure
our efforts to promote infill do not have the same type of unintended consequences that
the zoning determinations made many years ago in the Black Olive neighborhood have
manifested.
Thank you,
Bill
Stoddart
406.579.6096 m