HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-07-17 Public Comment - L. Kirk- Black OliveLisa Kirk
227 East Olive Street
Bozeman MT 59715
4 April 2017
The Honorable Mayor Taylor
Members of the Bozeman City Commission
Sadly, there is no question that Bozeman is growing at a rate that is technically considered to be
unmanageable by professional planners. This intentionally incentivized growth will affect us all. It
seems, however that this growth will be focused on “infill” of our historic, downtown neighborhoods, to
offer “walkable, bikeable” transit into the profit centers of the Downtown Business Partnership. We are
told that this is Bozeman’s future, that Life is Downtown and not at Bridger, Hyalite, or Sypes Canyon.
We are assured that myriad new residents will wish to live in small, high priced apartments close to a
crowded downtown populated dominantly by bars, restaurants, and art galleries, which already has
limited parking and will soon have no grocery store. We are assured that 19 of 56 Black Olive
homeowners will gladly forsake owning a vehicle, and that they will meet their collective daily transit
needs by sharing 4 cars between them. The remainder will gladly limit themselves to a single vehicle per
household, and happily pay a premium to use the onsite 37 parking stalls. Little credible evidence has
been provided to support these assertions. Alternatively, our BPNA request for a Residential Parking
District was unofficially tabled, despite our submittal of detailed evidence describing existing parking
problems to the Commission in 2016. Yes, more data is desirable – for both parking and high-rise
decisions.
It is clear that the developers have a multi-million dollar vision for multiple high rise projects which will
directly affect the safety, property value, and life quality in our historical homes. Their vision has been
codified into a City vision in the past three years through a series of distinct, but critically important,
changes to our UDC and NCOD regulations for B3 development, opening the door to massive projects
which apparently meet quantitative metrics in “code” while neglecting key (but more subjective)
aspects of contextual, historical and architectural conformity. These decisions appear to have been
made quickly without sufficient public notice or involvement, and they don’t align well with resident
visions for growth. Available infrastructure and urban planning to prepare for this type of development
are woefully inadequate. Our understanding of the cumulative affects of this growth is also incomplete.
Should we not consider permitting decisions made on this basis to be capricious? Worse yet, these
project proposals are being submitted in rapid fire succession, under the threat of potential litigation by
developers if the City of Bozeman fails to honor the letter of the recent code changes while disregarding
the substance and intent of long standing guidelines for downtown development. This disconnect is
embodied in the reality that the Bozeman Planning Department has supported the project (contingent
on determination of parking and sewer adequacy) while the Design Review Board has soundly rejected it
twice.
The Commission has clearly demonstrated the wisdom of pausing to collect sufficient evidence for
decisions related to short-term rentals and residential parking districts. There is an ongoing, incomplete
strategic vision development process led by the neighborhood association…..and another being
conducted City-wide! Why would you not also pause to collect needed information to make the best
decisions about irrevocable, massive high rise development in the historic downtown neighborhoods,
ensuring that any decision fully represents the interests of all Bozeman stakeholders.
The Black Olive project represents a tipping point for our community. Please consider carefully whether
your decision will set precedent for OVERFILL, rather than INFILL, growth in Historic Downtown
Bozeman.
Sincerely,
Lisa Bithell Kirk, Ph.D., P.Geo.
Secretary, BPNA