HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-16-18 Public Comment - C. and R. Esbjornson - Mountain Vista Zone Map AmendmentFrom:C. R. Esbjornson
To:Agenda
Subject:Public Comment on Mountain Vista Zone Map Amendment, Project # 18-438
Date:Sunday, December 16, 2018 11:02:51 PM
Attachments:Mountain Vista Project #18-438 Public Comment.pdf
To the Bozeman Zoning Commission and the Bozeman City Commission,
Attached please find our public comment related to the Mountain Vista Zone MapAmendment application, Project # 18-438.
As homeowners at 236 Marilyn Ct., Bozeman, MT 59718, the request to rezone the Mountain
Vista parcel from R-2 to R-4 would negatively effect our subdivision and our property values.We'd appreciate your careful consideration of the attached comment.
Please acknowledge receipt of this email. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Carl D. Esbjornson
Rilla D. Esbjornson236 Marilyn Ct.
Bozeman, MT 59178
Carl D. and Rilla D. Esbjornson
236 Marilyn Ct.
Bozeman, MT 59178
Phone: 406-585-0623
Email: cresbjornson@gmail.com
City of Bozeman
Department of Community Development
P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman MT 59771-1230
December 16, 2018
Re: Public Comment Concerning Mountain Vista Zone Map Amendment,
Project #18-438
We are the legal homeowners of 236 Marilyn Ct. Bozeman, MT, 59718 in the
Babcock Meadows Subdivision with the legal description of Babcock Meadows PH 1,
S11, T02 S, R05 E, Lot 12, ACRES 0.25, PLAT J-205. We write to register our
strongest possible objections to the application for a zone map amendment from R-2
Residential Two-Household Medium Density to R-4 Residential High Density for the
property at 2928 West Babcock Street, Bozeman MT.
This property is surrounded on three sides by the Babcock Meadows Subdivision
and is bordered by exclusively single-family dwellings to the west, south, and east of
this parcel, with a narrow linear park and seasonal creek which separates this
parcel from the single-family homes to the east. These single-family homes were
built in an R-3 zone and nearby property is zoned R-3.
As a subdivision, several years ago we objected to the Mountain Vista parcel being
rezoned as R-4. The conditions for which the City Commission saw fit to reject the
rezoning application at that time have not changed today. As then City
Commissioner Marcia Youngman said, when the Mountain Vista parcel of land came
up for a zoning amendment request before the Bozeman City Commission several
years ago, our subdivision is already “fragile” when it comes to maintaining the
quality and character of our single-family home neighborhood.
The density and building height allowances for R-4 zoning is not appropriate for our
single-family home neighborhood. To rezone this parcel from R-2 to R-4, you would
be effectively approving the development of apartment buildings on the Mountain
Vista parcel of land. Under current R-4 zoning, 20+ apartment units could
potentially be developed on this property (at 5-8 units per acre), and with building
heights that would overwhelm the heights of the existing homes that are adjacent to
this parcel. This poses serious concerns for our entire neighborhood, and in
particular, for the homeowners whose properties are directly adjacent to this parcel
of land.
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The modular home park, Babcock Vista to our east, has already compromised the
character of our neighborhood. If apartments are built on the Mountain Vista parcel,
Babcock Meadows Subdivision could see a significant loss in property values for the
single-family homes in this neighborhood.
We continue to struggle with too many of the homes in this neighborhood becoming
rentals, which have caused some problems with loud parties, failure of some
properties to be well cared for, increased noise, increased traffic, as well as parking
congestion on our neighborhood’s streets. Invariably, whenever apartment
buildings are approved in Bozeman, these new developments are never required to
build adequate parking facilities, and on-street parking becomes very problematic
on adjacent streets.
In addition, with all the development to the west of Babcock Meadows Subdivision,
adding a high-density R-4 parcel to our neighborhood will increase traffic
congestion on Babcock Street, which is already problematic at peak use time.
We urge you to reject this zone map amendment application, as it is not in the best
interest of existing homeowners and our property values in this neighborhood for a
high-density R-4 development to be approved on this parcel of land.
Sincerely,
Carl D. Esbjornson
Rilla D. Esbjornson
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