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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-18 Protest - L. & M. Summerfield - Rainbow Creek Annexation and Zone Map Amendment November 19,2018 City of Bozeman Zoning Attention:Danielle Graber 121 North Rouse Bozeman,MT 59715 RE: Rainbow Creek Annexation and Zoning TO: Bozeman Zoning Commission This is a letter of protest against the Rainbow Creek Zoning Map Annexation request to zone the property located at 4555 Baxter Lane, Bozeman,MT to R-4. My wife and I,along with our two children live at 4525 Drafthorse Dr,Baxter Meadows SUB PH 3A, S34, T01 S, R05 E, BLOCK 16, Lot 1. We live within 200ft of the proposed Rainbow Creek Annexation. While annexation of this parcel into the City of Bozeman is an appropriate step, we have major reservations regarding it's R-4 zoning because it is surrounded by R-1 zoning and does not align with the city's Community Plan under Land Use Principles. We strongly urge the city zoning and commissioners to not permit R-4 and recommend zoning for single family dwellings. Furthermore, we feel that Rainbow Creek should set the precedent for how our expanding and growing community should handle future growth between the old and new parcels, and the precedent should re-enforce best practices set forth in the "Land Use Principles" and Community Plan. Our city is at a cross roads with desperate need for affordable housing in an ever-rising costs of living, we understand that. We ask ourselves;What makes Bozeman such a great place to live?Yes,there is recreation,great schools,the university and ease to good healthcare,all build on a booming economy. I' But let us not forget the planned communities and neighborhoods that make up this community. The Baxter Meadows community has been building out for over a decade using a planned and measured G i 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. Within the PUD there is R-1,R-2,R-3,R-4,R-S and B-2 zoning. II We firmly support this type of planned approach and have lived in two different homes in the Baxter Meadows community since 2003. We choose to stay in the Baxter Meadows neighborhood after we outgrew our previous home on Bosal Street, zoned single family R-3, after living there for 13 years. We intentionally built our our second dream house here on Drafthorse Drive in 2016 because of it being strictly zoned R-1 to get away from the congestion and noise that naturally comes from higher density communities. Because of this planned and measured approached with this PUD we felt assured by the city that any annexation on the west end of Baxter Meadows West neighborhood would be remain consistent with the R-1 zoning— or at least be consistent with single family dwellings. To have any other type of dwelling beyond single family units would drastically affect the overall character and feel of this quite neighborhood,not to mention affect the value of our home. The Rainbow Creek Annexation first appeared before the Zoning Commission on August 21, 2018 with the proposal to have it zoned as R5. The motion failed with George Thompson voting for it and Julien Morice,Chris Scott,and Erik Garber voting against it. During the discussion numerous points were made in opposition of the motion which carry true with the current proposal for R4—Residential High Density zoning. It was mentioned that when looking at the other R4 zoning shown on the Zoning Map,it should be noted that they were created as part of a Planned Unit Development(PUD) or subdivision where it was previously planned allowing for tapering of zoning. This allowed for the predictability of neighborhood character for those intending on purchasing property in those areas. It was also stated that the adopted Growth Policy did not adequately prepare homeowners in the Baxter West Subdivision for higher density. Zoning should be done with predictability relating to the character of the district and to zone this small parcel R4—Residential High Density was never foreseen and is not fitting of the character of the district. There was also discussion about regarding Spot Zoning where a zoning commission member admitted they were on "shaky ground" regarding the vastly different zoning compared to the surrounding area. We choose this R-1 neighborhood as an investment in the future for ourselves and our family,as did a number of other neighrbors. But this particular zoning change puts those investments into our community at risk. To be clear,we support all the needed R4 and R5 zoning needed to support the community at large. Just please do not mix it into existing and established neighborhoods. It is our opinion that the zoning request for mulit-family high density would change would be a significant detriment to our community and neighborhood. The changes we fear are actually well supported by the zoning and planning guidelines. We request the application for R-4 multi-family zoning be denied. Sincerely, C -Leif Summerfield ielhissa/Summerfield Along with our children Avery Summerfield - Ethan Summerfield 4525 Drafthorse Drive Bozeman,MT 59718 BAXTER MEADOWS SUB PH 3A,S34,T01 S,R05 E,BLOCK 16,Lot 1