HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-19-2020 Public Comment - C. Price - Opposed to REMU ZoningFrom:Christina Price
To:Agenda
Subject:Future land use map - Blackwood Groves development
Date:Tuesday, May 19, 2020 3:47:45 PM
Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and consider our thoughts. We are
homeowners and primary residents of the Alder Creek subdivision. Our home backs up to theproposed Blackwood Groves development. Our address is 1116 Alder Creek Drive. We are
raising our three children here.
We vehemently oppose changing Blackwood Groves to "REMU" zoning. We also oppose the"Industrial" designation being considered for Bozeman's Southeast Quadrant. We also oppose
the "Community Commercial" designation in Bozeman's Southwest Quadrant. We haveseveral points to our opposition:
CONFUSION ON PUBLIC OPINION: An outside consultant evaluated the future
growth of Bozeman and advised a commercial zone further away from the railroad toprovide space for tech businesses that need to be in a non-vibratory zone. We were
told that the selling landowners actually supported REMU zoning. We would likesome more concrete information around all of this, as it seems curious that none of
the members of this close knit neighborhood ever spread the word that the city waslooking for our opinion. We were also informed that residents of the southern part of
Bozeman and Bozeman in general WANT more places of business and high-densityhousing here, specifically, between Graf and Goldenstein Lane. We would be
interested to see exactly, from a quantitative standpoint, how many Bozemanitesspecifically expressed this opinion and desire. There is nothing in this end of the
valley to the south except for residential and agricultural properties. If you travelsouth of our neighborhood you quickly run into Leverich and Hyalite Canyons. There
will never be legions of commuters driving from the south and looking for officebuildings or other places of business close to their homes. They will come from the
north, east and west. EXPECTATIONS OF RESIDENTS: We have yet to speak to any residents in this
area that had, or have the desire for a REMU zoned area abutting our neighborhoods.We bought a home here with eyes wide open; we knew the farm land would
eventually become developed, as neighborhoods and parks, not apartment buildings,manufacturing facilities or the many other commercial applications that fall under the
REMU/Industrial/Commercial designation. Clearly we paid a premium to live in aneighborhood with schools and parks surrounding our homes. We are happy for more
homes of similar specifications. There are many established residential neighborhoodswhose residents paid a premium to live near a park, a business zone, or close to Main
Street. Some chose to pay a premium to live in high-density housing that is a bike rideto their job at Oracle or other businesses in business parks. We all, as free Americans,
chose what kind of neighborhood we wanted to live in: mandating and allowing 180degree changes for any number of reasons is disruptive and confusing. Imagine if the
residents of North Black Avenue suddenly learned that Beall park was going tobecome a mall with a movie theatre, just because we need more of those! How would
those residents feel and respond? REMU's BROAD DEFINITION: The residents of Alder Creek and the
neighborhoods surrounding the proposed annexation are extremely vulnerable if theland abutting our property is designated as REMU. We have zero recourse if the
developer and investors were to change course from their friendly and beautiful"plan" due to unforeseeable circumstances that are infinite in possibility(911
terrorism, 2008 Recession, 2020 COVID 19 to name a few recent realities thatabruptly changed many things and commercial real estate most of all!) They could
rent out the buildings and land to whomever they chose. We would probably be ok ifit was a dry cleaner, coffee shop, and real estate office(like we need more of
those?!) but what about all the alternatives? There doesn't seem to be a reasonablemiddle ground here; it is all or nothing. EXISTING REMU/COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL: When we look at the currentzoning of the city, there are many many acres of REMU/Commercial/Industrial zoned
areas that have yet to be developed. Why does the city need more REMU zoningwhen we haven't utilized the existing parcels of land? We look at the opportunity zone
on Garfield as a prime example. That is far enough from the railroad tracks to avoidvibrations(how many companies actually can't work near railroad tracks?), and there
are 42 acres available for "tech" or any other use by commercial entities. Contrary tosome opinions, those businesses don't have to be associated with MSU. As far as I
can see there is only one building under construction on that property that has beenavailable and for sale/lease for several years. There are many hundreds of acres along
19th Ave, Stucky, Garfield, and many other areas in "south" Bozeman that areabutting industrial parks, churches and their parking lots, and other multi-use
properties. What is going on with the swaths of land on Highland across from thehospital? What a great place to expand to the east where the new Heeb's Market was
built. That would benefit the residents of Livingston who are more and more likely tobe commuting to Bozeman to benefit our community with their skills and taxes. I
have heard arguments from city planners that 11th and 15th avenues need to beopened up so travel to the south is easier. Does that make sense to funnel more traffic
to the south for a few hundred acres of commercial zoning? Is the juice worth thesqueeze (see geography of valley pointed out above.) As we all know, 11th avenue is
already a terrible artery that passes through the university and is a virtual bottleneckfor 9 months of the year due to student pedestrian traffic. The traffic that travels off
19th, along Graf, right on 11th, and through our neighborhood to Sacajawea MiddleSchool is already a problem with speeders and passers by flaunting local traffic laws
on a twice daily basis. I am waiting for the increase in pedestrian deaths to open upour community's eyes to the danger of funneling commercial traffic through our
neighborhoods where many kids are riding bikes and walking to and from schooltwice daily. It is a huge problem lurking in the weeds. If we want to create a
community of the future where everyone can walk to work, we also need to build atraffic division in our PD to control the speeders. Let's do our best to separate the
speeders from our students where we can. At least in town where Hawthorne andother schools are located there are traffic lights to control the traffic.
In conclusion we don't understand why these relatively isolated tracts of land south ofBozeman, surrounded by schools, rural communities, and our neighborhoods are being
targeted as REMU/Industrial/Commercial zones. We don't believe the residents of Bozeman,and certainly South Bozeman, are asking for this, and we don't understand why it makes sense
to the larger plans for the expansion of Bozeman. The unknown beneficiaries of these changes(developers and business owners) don't live here and certainly didn't buy property here to live
and work in the community. Why are the (mostly financial) gains of these unknown anduncertain parties being elevated above those who are already here? Thanks for considering our
opinions.
Respectfully Submitted,
William Holt and Christina Price
--
Christina Price"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking
our potential."
-Winston Churchill