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Home My WebLink About11-15-18 Protest - W. & J. Darden - Rainbow Creek Annexation and Zone Map Amendment • November 15, 2018 mu- Bozeman City Clerk 121 N. 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 Bozeman Community Development Please accept this letter of protest regarding the Rainbow Creek Rental Properties LLC annexation and request to establish an initial zoning of R-4 (Residential High Density) of the property addressed as 4555 Baxter Lane, Bozeman, MT. We are the owners of and reside at the real property within 150 feet of the area affected by the applicant's request. Our adjacent .43 acre property is located due East on 4518 Drafthorse Drive, Baxter Meadows Sub PH 3A, S34, T01 S, R05 E, BLOCK 15, Lot 11, Bozeman, MT 59718. Annexation We are supportive of the annexation of this property into the City of Bozeman. Spruce Tree Retention We oppose the removal of the four mature (45+ foot) Spruce trees located on the East side of the subject property. These trees act as a natural windbreak and are a nesting habitat for Great Horned owls, Swainson and Red-tail hawks, and other birds that significantly contribute to the control the rodent and insect population in Baxter Meadows subdivision and Bozeman Sports Park. We believe that retaining these Spruce trees should be a condition of the site plan approval. Continuous Sidewalk We respectfully request that the a continuous sidewalk connecting to the existing sidewalk on the North side of Baxter Lane be a condition of the site approval plan. R-4 Zoning Opposition We oppose the proposed R-4 Zoning of the subject property and favor R-1 Zoning for the following reasons: • The need for additional high density, affordable housing in this Northwest corner_ of the City is already being met. • R-4 (Residential High Density) zoning is not harmonious with the adjacent community and, therefore, is not consistent with the Bozeman Community Plan. The Baxter Meadows community has been expanding for over a decade using a planned and measured approach. It is one of, if not the first, Planned United Developments (PUD) in Bozeman. When one looks at the Baxter Meadows planned community, one finds density increasing as one moves East. Please see the attached Bozeman Zoning Map— Northwest Corner. Within the PUD there is R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-S and B-2 zoning. 1. The need for additional high density, affordable housing in this corner of the City is already being met. Please see the attached Bozeman Zoning Map — Northwest Corner. The circled areas highlight existing R-4 (Residential High Density) zoning and you can also see the abundance of R-3. Specifically, Northeast of the subject property, the Sundance Apartments and West Village Apartments (Four Points Subdivision) were recently developed. Quite a few West Village units still appear to be vacant one year after completion. South and east of the subject property, the new Flanders Mill development is zoned R-3 and R-4. The Crossings and West Winds developments further east are all zoned R-3. To the southwest of the new Sports complex, there is R-O zoning, as well as R-3 and R-4. Therefore, it seems obvious the Baxter Meadows community and surrounding developments have already adopted, in spirit and in practice, the tenets of the Bozeman Community Plan (growth policy). The Bozeman Community Plan, Chapter 2, Introduction, and Section 2.1 Guiding Principles contain two principles relevant to this proposal: • 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, excellencies 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. 2. R-4 (Residential High Density) is not harmonious with the adjacent community, and therefore is not consistent with the Bozeman Community Plan. We believe the guiding principles of the Bozeman Community Plan are already being met but that insertion of a very small parcel ("spot zoning") of R-4 in the midst of the R-1 section of a planned community and established open space (Sports complex) moves us away from the spirit and principles outlined in the Community Plan. Please view the 26 second video on https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gv46654u01 w5im/BaxterMeadowsWest_DroneFootageSh ort.mp4 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. In Section 3.2, 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. In reviewing the Zoning Map, it is obvious that the subject parcel would have been zoned R-1 if it had been included in the original Baxter Meadows development project. Now, the applicant's requested R-4 zoning would be an anomaly rather than part of the larger whole and, therefore, would not be harmonious with the character of the established community for the same reasons as described above. We feel this development represents an unconnected stand-alone project that is not integrated into the adjacent 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 and character of the existing development. Zoning the subject property R-4 (Residential High Density) zoning does not respect either. The Bozeman Community Plan Section 3.4, Land Use Category Descriptions- Residential states: • Large areas of single type housing are discouraged. • 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-4 (Residential High Density) zoning is incompatible with the adjacent development and is not complementary to the overall goals of the Bozeman Community Plan. These principles and guidelines are echoed in the Residential Emphasis Mixed Use section, which states: • All uses should complement existing and planned residential uses. If zoned R-4 (Residential High Density), 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 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-4 (Residential High Density). We chose to build our retirement home in Baxter Meadows West 3A because this Western end of the Baxter Meadows community provides the right level of housing density for us. We firmly believe that zoning the subject property anything different than R-1 or R-2 would be a mistake. We believe the "spot zoning" request is inconsistent with the Bozeman Community Plan and UDC Update and that an R-4 (Residential High Density) designation would degrade the adjacent neighborhood, Baxter Meadows community, and the Bozeman community at large and reduce the net tax revenues due to declining adjacent property values. Therefore, we respectfully urge the applicant's request for R-4 (Residential High Density) zoning be denied and the addition of the Spruce Tree Retention and Continuous Sidewalk conditions be gp rp oved. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this application and we appreciate your serious consideration of our concerns in finding a mutually supportable solution. Kindest Regard , Uilliam E. Darden III Lith A. Darden 4518 Drafthorse Drive Bozeman, MT 59715 X 4 r i ` y x I I ,r c„ W tG i j, of ' ik { s � ' Off t � f4 N r 3 Ln O CL � OVA i o L / O N cu N -g Qj } y C G Q C � s O 4- d� N � I/'1 .0 U