HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-16-17 Public Comment - K. Coyle - Black OliveFrom: Katie Coyle
To: Agenda
Subject: Black-Olive Development
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2017 7:02:25 PM
To whom it may concern,
I write to urge you to reject the BlackOlivce project in its current form. Andy Holloran is well
aware of to express my concern regarding the proposed Black-Olive Development and the
proposed So-Bo lofts on the old Pizza Hut Property. Having grown up in Bozeman and
watched the changes over the years, it is disheartening to see more proposed projects that
target the uber wealthy out of staters moving to Bozeman.
I write to urge you to reject the BlackOlive project in its current form.
Andy Halloran should have known from well before he designed BlackOlive that the building
violates Bozeman zoning laws in its excessive scale and size next to an historic residential
neighborhood. The City’s Design Review Board has now twice ruled exactly that. The community
has also made it very clear that BlackOlive is in violation of our community rules. And yet Halloran
has made no attempt whatsoever to adjust the scale and size of the building to comply with our
standards, which he could have done with relatively small modifications. He has instead brazenly
flaunted our rules and made a mockery of our community. The decision the City Commission
makes on BlackOlive will have profound implications for our future. Are we going to stand up and
defend the reasonable rules that we established to maintain balanced growth? Or are we going to
allow outsiders to come in and brazenly ignore our rules for their own profit? Are we, the citizens
of this community – through our elected representatives - going to determine the future of our
city? Or are we going to hand that over to developers who do not appear to care one bit about the
qualities that make this community so special?
Thank you for your careful consideration of this project and the future of our city.