HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-03-17 Public Comment - AK. Hoitsma - Black OliveTO: Bozeman City Commission
FROM: Amy Kelley Hoitsma
RE: Black Olive Site Plan and Certificate of Appropriateness
April 3, 2017
Honorable Mayor Taylor and Commissioners Andrus, Krauss, Mehl, and Pomeroy:
I respectfully request that you deny the Site Plan and Certificate of Appropriateness for
the proposed Black Olive development.
It is with much thought and with a great love for our city that I come to this conclusion.
Past events and future precedent make this decision of utmost importance.
Along with all of you, I was at the City Commission meeting several years ago when the
City Attorney confirmed that the Commission had no recourse when the owners of the
Lehrkind Brewery property decided to tear down the historic wall. You had put a two-
year waiting period on the proposed demolition, during which time the city and the
neighborhood reached out several times to the owners with offers to help preserve the
wall. The owners remained silent, waited out the two years, and tore down the wall.
I was really impressed and heartened by your discussion and reactions that night. Of
course you all care deeply about our city and our historic treasures. We were all shocked
to find out how little control we ultimately have over development in our city. Property
owners’ rights seem to outweigh all else.
I thought we all learned a lesson that night: we need to take control over future
development in our city and particularly in the preservation of our historic structures
and neighborhoods. But just last month I read in the Chronicle that Mike Delaney did
exactly the same thing: waited out the two years after you denied his request to
demolish a home in the city’s conservation overlay district, and demolished it anyway.
I believe that the Black Olive proposal is an opportunity for you to take back some of
that control. You have that authority. The residents of this city have empowered you to
make the bottom line decision as to whether a proposed development is appropriate for
the neighborhood or not.
Many, many Bozeman residents have participated in this process and have spoken
against this proposal. Given the Black Olive’s immediate proximity to one-story homes
and an important historic district, they feel a five-story building is simply too massive,
too tall. The city Design Review Board agrees.
I also share their concern that providing only 37 on-site parking spaces for 57
apartments is inadequate. As much as we’d like our city to move to a scenario with
fewer cars, more walkers and bicyclists, and shared vehicles, we are not there yet. I
don’t think the cart can drive the horse in this case; that is, developers getting
permission to create fewer parking spaces is not going to encourage people to not own
their own cars. We do not have the public transit options to support this yet. The result
will be that developers get to make more money and surrounding neighbors will suffer
having to support more parked vehicles.
Tonight you have the authority to say this proposal is inappropriate for this
neighborhood. At the most basic level, it doesn’t FEEL RIGHT. And it doesn’t feel right
because, while it may meet the letter of the law, it does not meet the spirit of the law.
You have the authority to make the subjective conclusion that the size and design of the
Black Olive development is not in “compatibility with… the immediate environment of
the site and the adjacent neighborhoods.” I urge you to come to this conclusion and
deny the Site Plan and Certificate of Appropriateness for the proposed Black Olive
development.
Thank you for your consideration of my concerns.
Most sincerely,
Amy Kelley Hoitsma
706 E. Peach St.
Bozeman, MT 59715
(406) 581-1513
aok@mcn.net