HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-19-18 Public Comment - K. Dassonville - ONE 11 Lofts ProjectFrom:kathi dassonville
To:Agenda
Subject:Public Comments on One 11
Date:Monday, March 19, 2018 11:32:08 PM
To Whom it May Concern (which based on past experience and Commission Meetings, that pretty much
means no one):
It just seems that by the time residents get the information something is going to be built, it has already
been decided by the Commission. My first clue something was going down was when I passed Andy
Holloran staking a poster notice on the corner of Lamme and Willson on 5 March 2018 (later than what it
was supposed to be posted as I now see from my notice letter from the city). One sign for the whole area
that is hidden by all the trucks that park on Lamme. I don’t normally drive that corner and normally would
not have seen it.
Did it ever occur to you that we the people might actually like our town the way it was. We like being able
to see the mountain tops when driving around, we like being able to see the mountain tops from our
homes, we like being able to park in front of our homes and carry our groceries and tools of our trades
into our homes, we like the neighborly feel. All of this is being taken away from us. I feel like many of us
living downtown are being forced to sell or move out. I guess it’s all about money. Those who have it, just
keep making more. Just when I thought I would put my house up for sale and be able to profit myself I
find out this monstrosity is going up and will surely lower my value and ability to sell.
The Site location and Description of the Traffic Impact Study is inaccurate. I find it Very deceitful to list
only the buildings that own parking lots and to totally disregard the residential buildings, as if to show
there would be no impact. The report totally ignores the 28+- Apartment Building (17 W Lamme) directly
east of proposed property (however it does mention the building east of the apartments – how can you
just ignore the building in between?) and the residentials south of the property. The 72 space parking lot
does not "serve the medical offices buildings." It serves the tenants of that Apartment Building.
The Apartment Building at 17 W Lamme is losing their parking. Since their Landlord sold the parking lot to
Homebase, until construction starts those tenants are now going to be charged $40/mo to park their
vehicle in the same parking lot as they were before. What a way to prove the parking lot is not
necessary. About the only affordable housing downtown is that Apartment Building. Do you think those
tenants are going to want to or can afford to pay $40/mo? No, they are going to park on the street. And
then gee, we're going to have an unsightly unused parking lot that surely we should build a high-rise on.
Wow, how convenient for Homebase.
Then, One 11 will be built on top of this parking lot, forcing all the tenants to park on the already
overcrowded streets. Plus, let’s not forget the overflow from the radio stations and the Academy of
Cosmetology students that park in that lot. When you have grandfathered parking allowances in the area
you have to take those into consideration when adding more to the pot.
I don’t see how you can say on page 29 “the development of One 11 Apartments would not have any
appreciable impacts on traffic operations on the surrounding street system.” How can it not?!!! You are
taking away xxxxx parking spaces that now will be fighting for on the street. You are adding the necessity
for at least 51 more residential parking spaces on the street PLUS the number of business and visitors
needing parking. We still have the Baxter Hotel workers that won’t buy a garage parking pass, the
Academy of Cosmetology students, the Job Service Building visitors that can’t park in that parking lot and
the radio station building people that can’t park in their parking lot jockeying for parking spaces on
Lamme. Lamme St is already narrow enough that cars get side-swiped with hit and runs.Let's add a
trailer and a crane and construction and see how fun that gets. Of course there's going to be more traffic
here after it's built. You just added 51 more apartments with possibly 110 more people living and driving
here.
I stopped by the Planning office and was told the guidelines are 1 vehicle per dwelling. Seriously? What
household has only one car? Very few, that is. With Bozeman being such a rental town we all know
most dwellings have multiple people living in them. Often times the vehicle count is 2 cars per bedroom. I
have a four room duplex downtown, which means there’s potential for eight vehicles. Why doesn’t the
city get realistic instead of being blind? Let's see...perhaps 56 people losing their parking spaces from
the parking lot, all of the Academy of Cosmetology students losing their parking, One 11 adding 51
apartments and possibly 100 vehicles to the situation and One 11 is making up for this with a total of 47
spaces in there parking garage. The math does not add up Bozeman!!!
So when One 11 says they will provide parking for 47 spaces, how in the world is that enough?? That’s
not even one space per dwelling they are proposing. Are they allowed to factor in street parking in their
calculations? If so, they certainly should not be as we don’t have enough parking on the street already.
And when construction starts, where are all the construction workers going to park??? And don’t say the
parking garage, because that DID NOT happen with construction of 5 West. Why doesn’t the city post
“No Construction Parking” signs along Lamme, Willson, Beall, and Grand. Other cities do it, why can’t
we?
Why in the world does the city keep having community meetings with the residents acting like they care
about what we have to say. We keep saying we want our community’s integrity and style left the same.
We do not want high rises. Why are you wasting our time and our taxpayer’s money to pay your
employees for these community evening meetings? It’s obvious by what you are allowing in our
neighborhoods that you don’t care. How is the “scale and character of the historic core” being protected?
One 11 quotes this from the Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan. I don’t see anything to scale or of
any historic character in the design of One 11.
Why is it more important that the developer can build high rises and the existing residents are
disregarded? Our views are taken away. My ability to park in front of my house is taken away. I
remember when Homebase was building Block M I was told “they’ll have magnificent views.” Yeah,
because they stole mine! And they stole everybody else’s. I asked once why the developer got a
variance to build taller than the ordinance rules and was told it wasn’t cost effective unless they built
taller. Why is it more important for the developer to make money than it is for the resident to retain value
on their home? The city keeps talking about affordable housing as if these high rises are the answer.
They are not. They’re overpriced, cheaply built condos meant to make the developers money. The
average Bozeman resident cannot afford to live there.
One 11’s Site Plan quotes Part of NCOD Design Guidelines, Chapter 4-B “Housing –for all income levels
– should be encouraged...” What a joke. Let’s see. Based on those units listed in Bozeman’s Multiple
Listing Service there were 35 of these townhouse/condo units built since January 2014 that are either
currently up for sale, under contract, or sold.
Minimum price = $327,000 - sounds sort of decent, but it was only 600sqft. That’s $495/sqft.
Maximum price = $1.85 million dollars
Average price = $727,700
Housing for all income levels – wow, nailed it.
Personally, I don’t want to see this high rise out my front door. So long seeing fireworks in the sky, so
long Bridger views, so long quiet street, so long home equity, so long that wonderful Bozeman feel, hello
parking nightmare, hello night lights shining in my windows, hello aggravation and frustration, hello traffic,
hello high-rise nightmare and elite owners.
If you are a person that has a say-so in this project going forward I would like a call to know you read this.
Thanks,
Kathi
581-9017