HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-16-17 Public Comment - M. & K. Lavin - Black OliveFrom: Matt Lavin
To: Agenda; Kristi Lavin
Subject: Black Olive proposed apartments
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2017 8:42:05 AM
To The City Commission:
We have attended several city meetings regarding the planning and design of the Black Olive
apartment building. We would like to emphasize two points. Contrary to statements by a city
planner (Brian), the adjacent neighborhood is not opposed to infill and indeed look forward to
an improvement of the Black Olive lot that would cater to more renters close to East Main.
We have lived at 311 South Tracy Avenue for nearly 30 years and we thus know a lot of the
residents in the greater neighborhood. So, we speak with some confidence on this. Second,
with the focus of the Black Olive updated application on only finish details (e.g., siding,
windows, etc.), the real issue remains unaddressed by the developer: the bulky size of the
proposed Black Olive and the lack of attention to parking. Simply put, every individual owns at
least one car in Bozeman (both older and younger generations), if not a large-size pickup truck
and a trailer hauling a drift boat and a set of snow machines. I have worked at MSU for nearly
30 years and see the parking problems on campus that include people from a diversity of age
classes, especially the young generations all of whom are car owners. To suggest, as did the
youngest member of the Design Review Board, that younger generations are opting out of
owning cars is out of touch with reality. The Black Olive Development must be limited in size
so that each apartment has ate least one parking space (parking will still be a problem in the
area even with this constraint).
In summary, please limit the number of apartments in the proposed Black Olive development
to the number of car parking spaces that will be included in the ground floor parking lot.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Matt and Kristi Lavin
311 South Tracy Avenue
Bozeman, Montana 59715
406-599-9749