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Home My WebLink About08-21-18 Protest - W. Hicks - Rainbow Creek Annexation and Zone Map AmendmentAugust 21, 2018 Bozeman City Clerk 121 North Rouse Ave PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 RE: Rainbow Creek Annexation and Zone Map Amendment, File 18-240 TO: Bozeman Zoning Commission Bozeman City Commission My name is Wyatt Hicks, current President of the Baxter Meadows Master Homeowners Association. I am writing this letter on behalf of the Homeowners Association. Please accept this letter of protest regarding the proposed Rainbow Creek Annexation and Zone Map Amendment (File 18-240). The subject property, an approximately 2.29-acre lot located at 4555 Baxter Lane, Bozeman, MT, is proposed to be annexed into the City of Bozeman and zoned as R-5 (Residential Mixed Use High Density). We are supportive of annexation of this property into the City. However, we do question the need to zone this as R-5. The Baxter Meadows community has been building out for over a decade using a planned and measured approach. It is one of, if not the first, Planned Unit Developments (PUD) in Bozeman. When one looks at the Baxter Meadows planned community, one finds density increasing as one moves east (see attached map). Within the PUD there is R-1, R-S, R-3, R-4, and B-2 zoning. South and east of the applicant property, the new Flanders Mill development is zoned R-3 and R-4. Developments further east are zoned R-3. To the south of the Sports complex, there is R-O zoning, as well as R-3 and R-4. We firmly believe the Baxter Meadows community and surrounding developments have already adopted, in spirit and in deed, the tenets of the Bozeman Community Plan (growth policy). Two tenets relevant to this proposal are stated in the Bozeman Community Plan, Chapter 2, Introduction, and Section 2.1 Guiding Principles: • Strives to achieve a fair and proper balance among conflicting interests, to protect the rights of citizens, and to affirm community values as they have been expressed by citizen’s and throughout the planning process. • Affirms Bozeman’s commitment to responsible stewardship of the natural environment, excellences of environmental design and conservation of heritage of the built environment Additionally, Section 2.3 Why Do We Need a Plan? lists benefits of the planning process, one of which is to help: • Promote the interest of the community at large, while respecting and protecting the interests of individuals or special interest groups within the community. We believe these guiding principles of the Community Plan are already being met but that insertion of (or “spot” zoning) R-5 in the middle of the R-1 section of a planned community moves us away from the spirit and principles outlined in the Community Plan. Chapter 3, Land Use, Section 3.2, Major Themes and Related Chapters, under Land Use Principles - Neighborhoods states: • There is strong public support for the preservation of existing neighborhoods and new development being part of a larger whole, rather than just anonymous subdivisions. It is our opinion that the proposed Rainbow Creek Annexation and R-5 zoning is more an anonymous subdivision than part of the larger whole. Further, in Section 3.2, Land Use Principles – Centers, the following is discussed: • Centers are further supported through careful location of high density housing in a manner that provides support for commercial operations while providing amenities to residents. A list of benefits potentially derived from this type of use area is included in the section. They include: • Increased business synergy • Greater convenience for people with shorter travel distance to a wide range of businesses • The opportunity to accomplish several tasks with a single trip. • Facilitates the use of transportation alternatives to single occupant motor vehicles with a corresponding reduction in traffic and road congestion and air quality impacts • Enables greater access to employment, services, and recreation with reduced dependence on the automobile. • Greater efficiencies in delivery of public services • Corresponding cost savings in both personal and commercial applications In reviewing the above benefits, we do not see how they can be achieved considering the relative isolation/anonymity of the applicant’s property. In the same section, under Land Use Principles – Sustainability, one finds: • Development should be integrated into neighborhoods and the larger community rather than a series of unconnected stand-alone projects. We feel this development represents an unconnected stand-alone project that is not integrated into the neighborhood or larger community. Section 3.3, Land Use Goals and Objectives, Objective LU-1.4 states: • Provide for and support infill development and redevelopment which provides additional density of use while respecting the context of the existing development which surrounds it. We support infill on the applicant property. However, we also ask for respect of the larger community plan and the context of the existing development. R-5 zoning in this location does not respect either. In the same section, Objective LU-2.1 states – • Locate high density community scale service centers on a one-mile radius and neighborhood service centers on a one-half mile radius, to facilitate the efficient use of transportation and public services in providing employment, residential, and other essential uses. Given the fact that there is existing B-2 zoning within one half mile of the applicant property, we fail to see how this R-5 “spot” zoning meets Objective LU-2.1. In the Criteria narrative provided by the applicant, they state that the requested R-5 zoning is aligned with the growth policy because the current zoning is residential, and the requested zoning is residential. R-1 does not equal R-5. In fact, the Bozeman UDC (Unified Development Code) Update, Part 2, Zoning District Intent & Purpose Statements, Section 38.300.100, F and the DRC Notes Rainbow Creek Annexation document posted on the City’s website both state: • Use of this zone [R-5] is appropriate for areas adjacent to mixed-use districts and/or served by transit to accommodate a higher density of residents in close proximity to jobs and services. The subject property is neither adjacent to a mixed-use district nor served by transit. Additionally, we fail to see how increasing the density on such a small parcel places a significant number of people in close proximity to jobs and services. Also in Section 38.300.100, F., the partial sentence cited by the applicant in their Criteria Narrative is found. The applicant notes: “…walkable area to serve the varying needs of the community’s residents.” The full sentence in the UDC reads: • The intent of the R-5 residential mixed-use high density district is to provide for high-density residential development through a variety of compatible housing types and residentially supportive commercial uses in a geographically compact, walkable area to serve the varying needs of the community’s residents. We do not believe the proposed “spot” zoning meets this intent. The applicant cites a sentence in the Bozeman Community Plan Section 3.4, Land Use Category Descriptions-Residential: “Large areas of single type housing are discouraged.” However, that section of the Community Plan also states: • All residential housing should be arranged with consideration of compatibility with adjacent development….and in a fashion that compliments the overall goals of the Bozeman growth policy. We believe the proposed R-5 zoning is incompatible with the adjacent development and is not complementary to the overall goals of the Bozeman Community Plan (growth policy). These tenets are echoed in the Residential Emphasis Mixed Use section, which states: • All uses should complement existing and planned residential uses. It should be noted that the Bozeman Community Plan (2009) precedes the creation of the R-5 zoning district (2016). The alignment of the two has not yet been fully realized in our opinion. The Bozeman Community Plan addresses growth on a large scale, while this zoning change request is small scale and does not align with, nor further the goals and principles of, the Bozeman Community Plan. If zoned R-5, the subject property is of great concern for the above reasons. Also, increased residential and business traffic coming from the subject property will add significantly to traffic congestion on Baxter Lane when combined with traffic associated with the new Bozeman Sports Park, which has a 140-stall parking lot directly across Baxter Lane from the Subject Property. The Bozeman Sports Park Master Plan shows Baxter Lane as having arguably less traffic control, allowing eastbound or westbound traffic while exiting the park. Because of this lack of physical traffic control on Baxter Lane, increased eastbound and westbound traffic from the subject property is expected, if zoned R-5. To zone the subject property anything different than R-1 or R-2 would be a mistake. We believe the zoning request is inconsistent with the Bozeman Community Plan and UDC Update and that an R-5 designation would degrade the adjacent neighborhood, Baxter Meadows community, and the Bozeman community at large. Therefore, we strongly urge the application for R-5 zoning be denied. Sincerely, Wyatt Hicks Baxter Meadows Master Homeowners Association, President 4505 Kimberwicke St Bozeman, MT, 59718 BAXTER MEADOWS WEST SUB PH 3B, S34, T01 S, R05 E, BLOCK 9, Lot 9, PLAT J-514A