HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-16-19 Public Comment - L. Semones - Bozeman Medical Arts Zone Map AmendmentAug.16, 2019Bozeman City Clerk121 N. Rouse Ave.Development.^'PO Box 1230Bozeman, MT59771-1230Attention: Chris SaundersDepartment of CommunityAUG 16 2013';.DEPART'fveJT-'OF'COMM^mDEVFLOPMENTProtest Re: Application 19258 Zone Map Amendment ApplicationI spent an inordinate amount of time attending meetings to address the update of the NCOD last year. Thisincluded the joint meeting of the Zoning and Planning Commissions. According to the freshly adopted NCOD plan,existing neighborhoods, historical or otherwise are important to the city commission. Supposedly the city is in theprocess of creating rules and guidelines for the preservation of the historical districts, and for the compatibledevelopment of the non-historic downtown neighborhoods. The last time I checked the Community Plan Surveysite, the theme " A City of Neighborhoods" was in second place in the ranking of themes for the BozemanCommunity Plan, only behind " A City Influenced by Our Natural Environment, Parks, and Open Space." All of thisled me, as a citizen, to assume that the downtown neighborhoods were safe. At the extensive meetings Iattended, there was a marked concern for those areas specifically on the borders of B districts. I believe the CityCommission called them transition areas. People who live in R districts on the borders of B districts regardless ofwhether they are R2 or R3 or any other R, expressed that they were feeling threatened by the high rise andintensive development on their borders. This new request for a zoning change intensifies the concern thatdevelopers will continue to errode away at the borders of the neighborhoods, before the city can ever write therules and guidelines needed to protect these areas.It is a false premise that these zoning changes only affect those neighbors within 150 feet of the changerequested. All of us who live in the downtown neighborhoods are threatened by a precedent of changing zoningat the whim of a wealthy developer. My home could be threatened tomorrow. How many homes in theCommunity Core, Downtown, will be told that since they are downtown their area matches up with a B3 zone? Myown home is at 404 S. Church, and is in an R2 zone. Will this area, since it is downtown, be easily changed to B3?I protest this zoning change, as it is the opening shot in the developers' war against the downtownneighborhoods.Sincerely,O&^ff^ O^T^Z^^^OLinda Semones404 S. Church Ave.