HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-12-19 Protest - M. Herring and S. Held - Bozeman Medical Arts Zone Map AmendmentFrom:herrboz@aol.com
To:Agenda; Chris Saunders
Subject:[SENDER UNVERIFIED]Public comment on project 19-258
Date:Thursday, September 12, 2019 9:25:58 PMPublic commentRe: Bozeman Medical Arts Zoning Map Amendment,Project 19-258 Esteemed Commissioners: We are writing to protest the proposed zoning map amendment. It’s going to alter thecharacter of our neighborhood forever. One of us attended the Zoning Commission meeting earlier this month. There was a gooddeal of conversation about the way that the 2009 Community Plan and the zoning mapsdo not agree: the zoning map clearly marks the parking lot in question as being zoned R-4, while the Community Plan’s “Future Land Use Map” includes it as part of the“community core” (which would suggest a B3 designation). Several commission members suggested that the 2009 Community Plan is “the law of theland,” that it trumps the zoning maps. One said that the 2019 zoning map is, bydefinition, wrong, since it conflicts with the 2009 Community Plan: “the rules changed in2009, but the maps just didn’t reflect it yet.” This makes no sense to us. On the website for the City of Bozeman, one can examine historic zoning maps. When wedo, we find that this site has been zoned R4 since 1974, the first year that the Rdesignations were created. That same year, the Medical Arts Building was zoned B3. In
fact, dating back to 1963, this area of the parking lot has been zoned differently
from the Medical Arts block, and the same as the quarter block to the west.Goingback to the earliest maps, we cannot locate a single onein which that lot was zoneddifferently from the quarter block to the west. The zoning designations made in 1974 (parking lot = R4, Medical Arts = B3) werereaffirmed 9 times between the 2009 community plan adoption and the present day. 9
times! And yet suddenly the 2009 plan takes precedence?We note that the 2019 Bozeman Downtown Improvement Plan specifically does NOTinclude this parcel on their map of “downtown”; the Medical Arts building IS, this parcelis NOT. And yet the 2009 Community Plan trumps the 2019 Downtown ImprovementPlan?
We suppose that it’s possible that the authors of the 2009 Community Plan agonizedover every quarter block on their “Future Land Use Map.” And that they specificallydesired to change the Zoning for this quarter block. But we doubt it. Why would they goagainst 45 years of clear zoning maps? We suspect that they just made a mistake. And ifthey didn’t just goof, if they trulyplanned to make a change for this quarter block, wesuspect that many citizens would want to know why they decided to fly in the face of 45years of zoning regulations when they made the change. Many would have objected. We certainly do. Thanks for taking public comment! Mike Herring & Suzanne Held313 N Grand