HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-27-17 Public Comment - J. Walseth- SoBo LoftsFrom: Jim Walseth [jim.walseth@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 3:04 PM
To: Chris Mehl
Subject: Unappealing: Sobo Lofts
Greetings Commissioner Mehl,
I hope this day finds you well.
I'm writing to register a protest of the re-engineering of my neighborhood in Bozeman. I refer
to the Sobo Lofts on West Babcock. I am specifically writing today in observation of the last day
this site plan can be officially appealed, a process we deigned not to undertake.
The excessive size of the structure benefits no one except the landowner and a few people
involved in commercial construction. The precedent established by this large structure virtually
guarantees a proliferation of more of the same, and people of West Babcock who have worked
hard and invested to make our street more livable will soon be rewarded by displacement and
demolition.
It is often said that building densely will save open space on the perimeter of the city.
No it won't. There is no transfer of development rights involved, nor any other quid-pro-quo
reserving land outside the developed areas of Bozeman. The density argument is purely based
on 'market forces', asserting that rural land is less likely to be developed. If that's true why are
land owners outside of town not rallying against these dense blocks? Won't the value of their
land be dropping, commensurate with the new economic reality? I challenge the commission
to name a single land owner who has expressed concern about their chances of selling to a
builder in the future because of the Sobo Lofts.
In fact developers and landowners see these developments only positively, wherever they are.
Price per square foot is based largely on how high you can go. Developers must see a city that's
'open for business', loosening restrictions and creating wealth for those that already have it.
People who don't live on Babcock Street and never will. Not a single member of the real estate
industrial complex has opposed these high-rises. That's a satisfactory proof that it will not
impact anyone's vested interests in future suburban tracts. Unlike the nearby residents, they
are shedding no tears.
Because the structure is not built, and such acts are still performed by people and not robots, it
is not too late for the design to be changed, simply to a 3-story structure more in keeping with
its surroundings. A kinder, gentler form of density like that is exactly what people in this city are
crying out for.
Best regards,
Jim Walseth
603 W Babcock
PS I will say, on a positive note, that the Pizza Hut is incredibly ugly and will not be missed.