HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-11-17 Public Comment - M. Herring - North Grand Housing1
Clerk Temp
From:herrboz@aol.com
Sent:Sunday, June 11, 2017 9:00 PM
To:Addi Jadin; Agenda
Subject:North Grand Housing Application 17186
Attachments:84.30.3 (1).jpg
Categories:Public Comment
Hello!
I am writing in reference to North Grand Housing Application 17186. I am asking that it be reclaimed or denied.
My principle objection to the planned development is the way that it will change our neighborhood’s long-standing
character. I live 3 houses down from the home in question, at 313 N. Grand. There are total of 12 single family homes on
our block, a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied homes. I have reviewed the Sanborn fire maps for our
neighborhood back through 1904; many homes, including 301, were already there then. In fact, census data confirms that
301 was there in 1900. By 1912, 10 of the current 12 homes on our block were already present (by 1927, 11 of the 12
were there). That means that, for at least the last 105 years, this has been a block exclusively of single-family
homes. I fear that adding a 5 unit multiplex will change the character of the block forever. I worry about parking, and
about noise, but mostly I worry about the change in the character of the place where I live.
I understand that the lot is zoned B-3, and that therefore creation of a multiplex is permitted. I question the wisdom of the
way the zoning map was drawn, however, as it splits my block evenly in 2, with the southern 6 houses being B-3, the
northern 6 being R-4. It makes no sense. And, like most things that make no sense, I think that it should be reevaluated
when circumstances require it, like now. I also object to the designation of the house in question as an “intrusive element”
by the 1984 Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory. If that’s the sole standard by which the historical significance
of a home is judged, it needs to be reviewed/revised. While well-intentioned, it appears that the architects who did the
review devoted little attention to the home. It has survived, largely unaltered, in the same location, for at least 117 years.
Tearing it down to build condominiums seems tragic to me.
And I think a lot about Rex LaBertew. For 42 years, Rex was the depot agent for the Northern Pacific railway. His father
Joseph was the telegraph operator there; I suppose that’s how Rex got the job. I run a lot in the neighborhood, and I
suspect that I’m unconsciously following the route that he took to work every day for those 42 years. Rex lived at 301 N
Grand for almost 50 years, from about 1925 until his death in 1984. It was the home of his first wife Lois’ parents, and this
is where they were living when she died in 1934, leaving him with a young daughter to raise. Three years later he
remarried, and it was to this home that he brought his second wife Kathryn. She lived on in the same location until her
own death in 1985. It has been over 30 years since Kathryn Labertew died, but, in my estimation, the LaBertew’s house
has done well. It seems well cared for, and has a nice yard/porch, with historic and decorative shingle accents.
I’m enclosing a picture of Rex from 1918, when he was a driver for the Northern Express Delivery Company, before he
became the depot agent. That’s him in the back on the left, with the jaunty cap.
All that, of course, is in the past, but remembering their history, and the way that that ties us to a different Bozeman,
seems valuable to me, seems worth keeping. I worry a lot about the way that we seem to toss away pieces of the past,
only to regret doing so almost immediately. It was in the early 90s that destruction of 3 historic homes on Babcock Street
(where the Pizza Hut now stands) initially stoked much of the interest in historic preservation in Bozeman, leading to the
establishment of the historic preservation board. 25 years later, what have we learned? Razing this small part of Bozeman
history is just one more step in the transformation of downtown Bozeman into a town that, increasingly, I won't recognize.
Change happens. Houses get torn down. I'm asking that this cute 117 year-old house not be sacrificed to make an
ultramodern condominium complex. If/when change happens, I hope that it can incorporate elements of Rex's house. Or,
at the very least, that it might not create a truly "intrusive element" in our neighborhood.
Thanks for taking public comment, and for hearing me out
2
Mike Herring
313 N Grand
406-599-4706