HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-14-17 Public Comment -D. Bullock - SoBo LoftSoBo Lofts-Pizza Hut will not make life better in Bozeman and is another example of hasty
development that does not have a proper Community Involvement Plan. This is reflected in the
confusing announcement last year which did not even reach all stakeholders that a planned "North
7th Ave Corridor "midtown" Rezoning" -really meant that we had to accept mid and high-rise
apartment blocks in our residential historic neighborhoods.
We are not opposed to the development at the Pizza Hut site--but what we reject is the scale and
design of a structure that violates the letter and spirit of the NCOD about buffers and transitions that
abuts directly an historic residential district, the degradation of our quality of life on a residential
street and traffic increases that are a safety hazard and that will lower property values. We have
worked, as many have to make West Babcock and Cooper Park District an asset for us and our city
representing aesthetic, sustainable and community values.
The proposed SoBo Lofts with roughly 60 more cars will add more that 400 more car trips a day
spilling out on a one-way street already busy, forcing cars into alleys and quiet residential streets
and also into circuitous routes at the 8th Ave boulevard. This is not good engineering. Also the 41
one-bedroom units make this building a dormitory rather than a place where people will live for
years, know their neighbors and contribute to the well-being of our beautiful still livable Bozeman in
the long term.
Again we are not opposed to development--we have lived with the ugly now derelict Pizza Hut
structure for 20 years, and INTRINSIK Architects have made some admirable changes, but they
have not gone far enough. We propose that the SoBo Lofts building be three-stories, with aesthetic
compatibility to neighborhood character in Cooper Park Historic District and overlay and contain 20
units of varying sizes.
Please wait until this harmful zoning issue can be addressed!
Robert and Deborah Bullock
218 S. 6th Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59715