HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-24-19 Public Comment - J. Torgerson - Recovery House1
Robin Crough
From:Torgerson, Justin <justin.torgerson@montana.edu>
Sent:Wednesday, July 24, 2019 3:11 PM
To:Agenda
Subject:men's recovery house
Categories:Public Comment
To whom it may concern,
I would like to make my opinion known to the Bozeman Mayor's Office and City Commissioners regarding a
proposed men's recovery house on the corners of Westridge Drive and Graf Streets.
I believe this is one of the most difficult and possibly dangerous places to put such a facility. I live nearby, in
the Alder Creek subdivision and I have a conflicted opinion of the facility distance from my own home: I
believe such facilities are necessary and I'm not excited about one being near me. However, I live in a
community and the community needs such facilities so I would not normally feel compelled to voice an
opinion.
However, this particular location sees hundreds of elementary school and middle school children pass along
the sidewalks bordering the property every school day. The property is located directly between Morningstar
and Sacajawea schools and the way that the city has grown up around the schools causes about 1/2 of the
students walking or biking to school to travel past that particular property.
The ideas that 12 or more men struggling through difficult times and living together should be within a few
feet of a few hundred children a couple times a day seems irresponsible.
It is also not possible for 12 or more people to each have a vehicle parked nearby while living in that house.
Two or three vehicles is really the limit given the congestion already present there and the fact that there does
not appear to be more space available for parking than any single family home in the area possesses.
One a separate but related issue, that intersection which includes South 3rd, has become problematic during
the school term. Many families appear to drive their children to school, some with a child or two at both
Morningstar and Sacajawea. Both schools start at about the same time, many children walk or ride bicycles
through that intersection and many other people begin their work days at a similar time. The effect is to cause
a situation that could easily see pedestrian accidents involving the kids in addition to the adult driver hostility
that a number of us in the area have witnessed on various occasions.
Best regards,
Justin Torgerson, Ph.D.