HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-02-19 Public Comment - A. Kesselheim and M. Zitzer - Veranda Building ProjectFrom:alandmp@aol.com
To:Sarah Rosenberg; Agenda
Subject:[SENDER UNVERIFIED]comments on Veranda Building #19118
Date:Tuesday, July 02, 2019 9:21:21 AM
Dear Ms. Rosenberg and City Commissioners:
We were out of town during the public comment period regarding the Veranda Project, and came home to
find the announcement in our mail. This is a building immediately in our neighborhood, that will affect our
viewshed and parking and general crowding along our streets. We have been concerned and vocal about
our city direction with large buildings that conflict with neighborhood transitions, loom over
neighborhoods, and are chronically challenged by parking.
Despite vocal and sustained public resistance to these projects, and repeated rejection by city boards like
the Design Review Board, not to mention the advice of paid consultants, these project march forward.
The writing is on the wall, it seems. It's all about money and taxes. Meantime, residents' property taxes
continue to skyrocket, and street infrastructure and maintenance is placed on the backs of residents
through double taxation. At the same time, the buildings being built do nothing to address the critical
problem of affordable housing.
In the big picture, the city's commitment to 'infill' as a strategy to intensify growth in the downtown core,
and minimize the problem of sprawl is a fools philosophy, as long as the county at large does nothing to
mitigate and control sprawl. What we're getting instead is the worst of both worlds. We have inappropriate
behemoth buildings in our downtown with inadequate parking, at the same time that every time you go
outside city limits, you are confronted with yet another sprawling subdivision going in. At the same time,
small scale individual projects, like ADUs in back yards or over garages are subjected to an endless
onslaught of regulation, changing requirements, onerous fees and hassles.
As with the other inappropriate buildings going in around Bozeman, the Veranda Building once again is
too big for its site, contrasts with other buildings in the neighborhood, and has inadequate parking which
will spill over and impact our neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Alan Kesselheim/Marypat Zitzer
415 E. Olive
Bozeman, MT 59715