HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-28-17 Public Comment - W. Muhlenfeld- Black Olive
Mayor Taylor and Bozeman City Commission:
I have been following and listening with much interest with regard to the Black Olive apartment building
proposal of HomeBase and Andy Holloran.
It is all so familiar.
I too am a developer, currently working on approval for a 132 acre residential community near
downtown Livingston, which includes apartment buildings. In the past I was the developer of Saddle
Peak Ranch and a managing partner in the development of the Village Downtown on Bozeman’s east
side.
There seems to be some kind of distasteful myth about development—that it is somehow destructive
and “unquestionably” dismissive of the city’s own zoning and design standards; and that disregards the
“community,” which almost always means the property owners just adjacent to the property under
question. In general, the complaints can usually be reduced to concerns about “density” and
traffic/parking,” which would somehow always be great(!) somewhere else, but Not In My Back Yard.
There have been many “alternative facts” cast about at meetings, in the newspaper and, no doubt, in
private conversations with city officials. The truth, though many might not like it, is that the Black-Olive
proposal meets the zoning code, and the developer has requested NO variances for design, planning or
construction. One must then ask: Isn’t the city commission under some obligation to comply with its
own ordinances and regulations for downtown development?
Bozeman is under incredible stress, with housing demands far exceeding supply, and sprawl becoming
sadly more evident on every trip one makes around town. Good urban planning means Bozeman must
build “up” downtown for reasons that are both practical and economic. The city commission, in my
view, is legally and morally obligated to live by the regulatory standards as established, and by doing so
will make a definitive statement about the future of the city’s downtown.
Bill Muhlenfeld, Developer
Village Downtown; Saddle Peak Ranch