HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-08-17 Public Comment - E. Wood - Black Olive II1
Robin Crough
From:Shana Wood <shanawood@q.com>
Sent:Sunday, October 8, 2017 7:02 AM
To:Agenda
Subject:Black and Olive
Categories:Public Comment
Dear Commissioners and to whom it may concern:
I am writing to express my opposition to the Black and Olive project as currently conceived, and to urge you to
reject its approval at your upcoming meeting. While the developer has made a few minor concessions to the
continuous and overwhelming opposition expressed about this project, I still believe this is the wrong building
in the wrong place. It has been so difficult to reach consensus on this project because it is essentially trying to
pound a square peg into a round hole. This is the wrong location for this building. It might work if the
developer made major changes in the height, design, and parking aspects, but that seems unlikely, so I implore
you to reject the current design. The site needs a building that is transitional in character. The proposed
building is a full scale downtown‐type building. If it were more similar to Block M it might work. If it were 3
stories on the north side and 2 on the south side it might work. If it were across Olive it might work. It does
not work as presently conceived.
I do want to see downtown Bozeman prosper, but I am afraid projects like this stand a chance of harming
downtown rather than enhancing it. While apparently it is not in vogue in the planning community to consider
parking and congestion, it seems intuitive to consider the possibility that projects that dramatically increase
congestion and reduce parking availability would be a net negative for downtown. This would be a significant
deterrent to people from other parts of the city coming in to enjoy downtown to accommodate a handful who
live in the building (and the vehicles they will own; let’s not kid ourselves about a car‐free lifestyle). There will
be dozens of additional vehicles permanently in the area both for the apartments and the commercial space.
56 apartments will likely have 100+ vehicles associated with them; 37 parking spots are offered. Where will
60+ extra vehicles be parked? Most likely in the adjacent residential area, or anywhere that is not two‐hour
parking. We all want to see a vibrant and enjoyable downtown that has unique character. The people who
oppose this project generally are not opposed to everything: consider that Block M, NEBO condos, The
Element, The Lark, Five West, and soon SOBO condos, have all been approved and built. The consistent and
vociferous opposition to this specific building in this specific location should convince you it is just a bad plan.
Finally, we often hear that the requested changes (less height, more parking, etc.) don’t “pencil out”. This of
course is shorthand for “The developer won’t make enough money”. Should that really be our concern? Why
are aesthetic, height, and parking requirements always on the chopping block? Maybe fire codes, insulation,
and handicap accessibility should be dropped as well because those requirements make it harder to “pencil‐
out”? I believe it will set a good example if the city rejects this project by showing the city has rules and
guidelines (even subjective guidelines) that can and will be enforced. That might make developers a little more
cautious when purchasing property for development. The fact that they overpaid for this property is the root
of all of this situation. Now they cannot afford to do a less intense development and are pushing back against
every concern expressed about this building. This is bad for the future of Bozeman. Please continue your
opposition to this project.
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Thank you for your attention to my concerns,
Edward (Ted) Wood
506 East Cottonwood Street