HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-03-17 Public Comment - T. Hoitsma - Black OliveTO: Bozeman City Commission
FROM: Todd 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 ask you deny the Site Plan and Certificate of Appropriateness for the
proposed Black Olive development. While I am all for infill and creating livable in-town
housing that encourages walking, biking and sharing of wheeled transportation, I have
two primary concerns.
First is building context. This building, despite several modest iterations and meeting
city code requirements - does not fit well into the neighborhood. I ask for a more
creative, less blocky design (perhaps rooftop open space and a roof with some living
plants) A quick look at some ideas being considered in Bozeman’s north-side RUDAT
design planning illustrates numerous creative alternatives to the proposed building
design. At the very least the building should be a maximum of 3 floors to transition into
the adjacent neighborhood better.
My second concern is parking. With 57 apartments and 37-40 dedicated parking spaces
there is a problem: we are banking on the success of car-sharing (40 apartments and 40
parking spaces would be a huge improvement, although even that would add
congestion to the neighborhood if many of the apartments have 2 cars). I would love to
see car-sharing thrive and succeed in Montana, but it may not. It works in big urban
areas like Evanston, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) and in suburbs of Portland and Austin.
But if car-sharing does not work here then basically Mr. Holleran has dumped the
parking problem into the neighborhood. In addition, enforcement of an under-utilized
car-sharing program will likely not be enforced.
A final point of conversation is “sustainability” for lack of a better word. This term has
been tossed around loosely by Mr. Holeran’s team and I have seen little example of this
beyond meeting code requirements. Unlike some other new buildings in town (like the
new Larkspur Commons development on Oak), there has been no mention of energy
efficient building design, use of high efficiency heating/cooling technology, water
conservation, use of rooftop solar, or on-site residential recycling facilities. In fact, Mr.
Holleran has suggested they may install aesthetic natural-gas burners in outdoor seating
areas. This, in my opinion, is a needless use of fossil fuels and contradicts City efforts to
improve air quality and combat climate change (such as no-idling around schools and
the use of locally produced bio-fuels by city heavy equipment). A genuine effort to
demonstrate efficient use of Montana resources would improve Mr. Holleran’s standing
around our growing city and the local neighborhood.
Thank you for your consideration of my concerns.
Most sincerely,
Todd Hoitsma
706 E. Peach St.
Bozeman, MT 59715
(406) 581-1972