HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-19-17 Public Comment - B. & J. Moeckel - Black OliveDear Commissioners
These are our reasons for opposing the BlackOlive project in it’s current form:
Parking and traffic
We really can’t think of anyone that we know that does’t have a car nor can we think of any
couples that don’t have two cars. People have friends and family that visit-often arriving in
cars. People have parties with lots of friends arriving in cars. You cannot assume no cars per
unit or one car per unit. Downtown may be walkable but the residents of this building will
surely want cars to drive across town or to the mountains, etc. Residents living at the BlackOlive
may also choose to park on the street rather than try to negotiate tight parking spaces on the
ground floor. The amount of street parking needed for this size of building will certainly
negatively affect parking for surrounding neighbors and businesses. We know that street
parking is public, but it is reasonable that people like to park in front of their houses-especially
when loading and unloading and during the winter for the elderly when sidewalks are
treacherous. Some neighbors do not have driveways. We have also had our driveway blocked
numerous times when there are local events. Driving or riding a bike safely on these narrow, car
lined streets can also be tricky-especially at these busy times.We can also expect a lot more cars
circling to try to find parking for downtown businesses-especially as our town continues to
grow.
Size
We live right next to each other in this neighborhood-sometimes just a narrow driveway
between us and we can look right into our neighbors windows. Fortunately, we like our
neighbors and we have fences ,if we want ,for a private back yard.. We are the original ‘infill’.
But a five story building next-door, or two, three, four or more houses down greatly impacts the
privacy of one and two story houses, with multiple people able to look down into yards and
windows.
Our winters are long and the sun is low in the sky. A five story building casts a long shadow
onto the north side and blocks a good chunk of the sky view/light from surrounding houses on
any side. Building more of these large buildings will certainly alter the open, sunny feel of
downtown Bozeman.
A lot of people in the downtown historic neighborhoods have put a lot of money and hard work
into fixing up their old houses , having to follow strict guidelines in doing so. Personally, we are
not opposed to some of the modern architecture , but the size and boxiness of the Black Olive
building just does not fit and will ‘stick out like a sore thumb’ next to these neighborhoods.
We will be unable to attend the commission meeting as we will be out of town, but figure two
more people, in spirit, in the crowd opposing this project as it stands now.
Thank you for considering our input.
Bill and Julie Moeckel
305 Lindley Place