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Home My WebLink About12-18-18 Protest - R. Hompesch - Mountain Vista Zone Map Amendment December 15, 2018 RE: Application 418-438—Mountain Vista Zoning Map Amendment, 2928 West Babcock Street City of Bozeman Mayor and City Commission, City of Bozeman Zoning Commission Members, and City of Bozeman Planning Staff: Please accept this letter of PROTEST regarding Application 918-438—Mountain Vista Zoning Map Amendment, 2928 West Babcock Street. My home is not contiguous to this property, but is within the 150 feet required by the City of Bozeman for me to protest this potential zoning change. My home is at 234 Kathryn Court: Babcock Meadows Sub PH 213, S 11, T02 S, R05 E, Lot 51, Acres 0.25, PLAT J-314. I am the only owner of this property. I have been a Biology teacher at Bozeman High School for the last 24 years, and lived in a one-room apartment attached to a barn on Cottonwood Road in Gallatin Gateway for the first 7 years until I could afford to purchase my home in 2002. Before I made this purchase, I reviewed the zoning of the field north of my property, discovered it was zoned R-2, and was satisfied that whatever was built on this field would be "consistent with the established development patterns." Surrounding this field are ONLY single-family houses and on the eastern edge borders is a linear"green space" with a hiking trail along a stream. The owners of this field, Glen Haven Properties, are requesting a change in zoning from R-2 (moderate density)to R-4 (high density) zoning. Glen Haven Properties already made this request in 2005, and neighbors wrote protest letters and voiced their objections at a hearing. The City of Bozeman denied this request and zoning remained at R-2. Now they are repeating this request. From my perspective, this change from R-2 to R-4 is Spot Zoning. Spot Zoning is not permitted by state law. "The following three conditions generally will indicate that a given situation constitutes spot zoning:" 1. "Is the proposed use significantly different from the prevailing uses in the area?" I disagree with your Staff Report. Yes, it is significantly different. Your 2018 Staff Report for the Mountain Vista Zone Map Amendment 18-438 states "the proposed R-4 zoning designation would not result in primary uses of the site which are significantly different from prevailing land uses." It also states repeatedly that the 2.63 acre, R-2 zoned lot is "surrounded by single- to four-household dwellings." This is FALSE. The 2.63-acre field is bordered by ONLY single-family homes,with 13 of the 17 properties having only one-story,while the remaining 4 have a second floor. R-4 designation would allow for more than 5 attached apartments with a height of 44 feet—several 3 or 4-storied apartment building! I cannot imagine how your staff can perceive the huge change from R-2 to R-4 as insignificant. The 2005 zoning decision (File Z-05182) stated that the R-2 zoning for this field was appropriate based on existing residential developments. "The proposed zoning designation of R-2 is more characteristic of the existing neighborhood than R-4 zoning originally proposed in 2001. The neighborhood is primarily single households..." Now, 13 years later, the houses surrounding this field have not changed. 2. Is the area requested for the rezone rather small in terms of the number of separate landowners benefited from the proposed change? Yes, change the zoning two levels for only 2.63 acres for one landowner. Your Staff Report 18-438 states, "The requested R-4 zoning is not anticipated t"irezly benefit surrounding landowners. However, as discussed above, no substantial negative impacts have be identified to this amendment." How many 3 or 4-storied apartment buildings can be squeezed into li'`- � Gres— when 50% of�t�t j� land can be covered with structures? This high-density development will decre rket value of all of� the single-family homes directly surrounding this proposed development. � � 18201,q 1, Why, 20 years ago, were the developers of Babcock Meadows required to sac is �pf.theiC_�pxofit$ leaving a green space with the creek for a small linear park—adding value to this p1e� yttij� i`�ly'1tb(IMave the i �- City of Bozeman in 2018 allow 3 or 4-story apartment complexes to border this narrow, linear"pocket park? This is not an appropriate development bordering such a narrow park. 3. Would the change in the nature of"special legislation" designed to benefit only one or a few landowners at the expense of the surrounding landowners or the general public? Only one landowner will greatly benefit financially if this rezoning is allowed. Please do not allow one landowner to so greatly impact the 17 existing landowners that surround this 2.63-acre field. His large financial gains from several 3 or 4-story apartment buildings will have a huge, negative impact on the neighborhood, lowering home values but also sacrificing the character of our neighborhood. I am not saying that such buildings should not be built in Bozeman, but a transition from the existing single-family to duplexes to 3-story and then 4-story is appropriate planning. A change from R-2 to R-4 is a huge change. I support the City of Bozeman's growth policy to in-fill with high-density residential developments and to promote the development of a wide variety of housing types, designs, and costs. It is one of the reasons that I purchased 234 Kathryn Court. Within a 1/4 mile of my home, our neighborhood has everything from single- family homes to multi-family complexes (though nothing taller than 2 stories). Two streets to the east of Donna Avenue are several developments with over 100 mobile homes (zoned RMH). Donna Avenue also borders the South Gate Mall (zoned B-3). As is true for most of the northwest Bozeman, we already have a"wide variety of housing types." I want to live in a financially diverse neighborhood, and am very concerned when new teachers at Bozeman High School cannot afford to live in Bozeman. But what I see is that northwest Bozeman is where all of the high-density housing is occurring. Northwest Bozeman is gaining the reputation of one of the "poor" areas in Bozeman. As a Bozeman High School teacher for the last 24 years, the change in attitudes of our students towards where each other lives is significant- Sacajawea Middle School, with students from south Bozeman, is the "rich school," and Chief Joseph, with students from the northeast and northwest, is the "poor school." Also, this is part of the difficulty designating boundaries for the new high school. Please stop adding to this with even higher density development in northwest Bozeman to reach the City's goal of providing low costing housing for the entire town. Our neighborhood is a mixture of owner-occupied home with rental homes surrounding this 2.63-acre development. With the additional of 3 or 4-story apartment buildings, additional homes will become rentals and the overall area will suffer. You will continue to truly create a"poor" side of town. Across West Babcock from my home is Hunter's Way and Michael Grove Avenues. Drive down these streets, and you will witness the failure of Bozeman planners with the concentration of only high-density housing- the deterioration of the area's buildings, the lack of care to the lawns, the excessive parking problems with both sides of both streets having cars parked bumper to bumper, etc. In 2005 when Glen Haven Properties first requested changing the zoning from R-2 to R-4, a neighbor suggested that the road into their new development be called Michael Grove Avenue, as it will be an extension of this road across West Babcock. Glen Haven Properties quickly replied that they did not want to be an extension of Michael Grove Avenue—he said that any association with Michael Grove would be detrimental to their sale of the new development on their property. Please look at each neighborhood within Bozeman, and evaluate the diversity of housing that is present today. Areas that are predominantly single-family homes and no businesses/offices should have a plan for adding these structures while incorporating a transition zone between single-family houses and 3 or 4-storied apartments. Our entire town should be composed of neighborhoods with each having a diversity of R-1 to R-4, RMH and B-2/13-3. This already exists in our neighborhood, and changing the zoning from R-2 to R-4 will further unbalance the desired homogeneity of Bozeman, with lower income neighborhoods further divided and distanced from wealthier residents. Thank you for considering this protest. Sincerely, Robin Hompesch