HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-23-18 Public Comment - S. Geiger - Community PlanFrom:Stephen Geiger
To:Agenda
Subject:Community Plan
Date:Monday, July 23, 2018 1:32:21 PM
I don't know if I will be able to attend any of the meetings so I wanted to offer my input.
There seems to be a very real problem with the architectural board in approving buildingdesigns. In some case the requirements for building approval seem overreaching. In other
cases buildings that have been approved and built go against any sense of aesthetics.
It is my understanding from several people that when Winco submitted their building planthey were told that they need more windows. This seems like a capricious demand since
Walmart has not windows other than their doors and Target has no windows other than theirdoors and the same goes for Costco and probably many other businesses in town.
When the City of Bozeman made requirements on the design of the Walmart Super Center I
had no problem with that. The Bozeman Walmart is nicer looking than most Walmarts I haveseen.
On the other side of the coin, I would like to know who is approving the God awful buildings
that have been built over the last few years. Here are a few examples.
The building where Panda Express is housed reminded me of a cell block at a prison when itwas going up. The fact that it has been stained improves it minutely. It is an ugly building.
There are the new apartments west of Bobcat Stadium that are ugly in design and ugly in
color.
There is the addition to the Lark Motel that sticks out like a sore thumb. It seriously detractsfrom the other buildings on Main Street. It is ugly.
There is the new Chief Joseph School. It looks like it was constructed out of discarded
shipping containers.
The new apartment buildings just southeast of Chief Joseph are as ugly as they can be and Iwould be embarrassed to live in them.
Even the Food Coop is nothing to brag about. It isn't quite as bad as the previously mentioned
buildings but it is not nice to look at.
The newly completed building on the corner of College and 19th is about as drab as a buildingcan be and it looks like the one under construction just across 19th from it will be no better.
I don't know who is designing these ugly buildings but I hope it is not someone who graduated
from the MSU School of Architecture. It it is, then the School of Architecture has someproblems educating their graduates on aesthetics. I don't have a degree in architecture but I
am confident I could do better. We need some people on the Architectural Board of the Cityof Bozeman who understand what makes a building attractive and what doesn't.
Sincerely,
Stephen Geiger