HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-20-20 Public Comment - A. Hoitsma - Letter to Planning Board RE Future Land Use designation of E Lamme BlockTO: Members of the City of Bozeman Planning Board
FROM: Amy Kelley Hoitsma, NENA President
RE: Draft Community Plan
DATE: 20 July 2020
Thank you for the enormous thought and effort you have put into updating the
Community Plan. I think it is a remarkable document.
I would like to address one small area of the Future Land Use Map that is within our
neighborhood boundaries: the block that is defined by N. Broadway on its east side, E.
Lamme on the north, N. Wallace on the west, and E. Mendenhall on the south. I will
refer to it here as the “E. Lamme block.”
On the draft Future Land Use Map you have this block designated as “Community
Commercial Mixed Use.” In Table 4 (Implementing Zoning Districts), you have eight
possible zoning districts that can implement this land use category: R-O, REMU, B-1, B-
2, B-2M, UMU, NEHMU, and PLI.
I encourage you to retain all of these zoning designations for the Commercial Mixed
Use category.
Currently, the E. Lamme block is zoned as M-11. According to Table 4, that zone can
only implement the “Industrial” land use category, which you have located on the
outskirts of town—not adjacent to the “Traditional Core,” as this block is. In order to
qualify as “Commercial Mixed Use,” the zoning for this block will need to change.
I think it would be most appropriate for E. Lamme block to be re-zoned as REMU.
The REMU zoning district best reflects the on-the-ground reality of this block, as
defined in City Code:
Sec. 38.300.110. Commercial and mixed-use zoning districts—intent and purpose. F. Residential emphasis mixed-use zoning district (REMU). The intent and purpose of the REMU district is to establish areas within Bozeman that are mixed-use in character and to provide options for a variety of housing, employment, retail and neighborhood service opportunities within a new or existing neighborhood. These purposes are accomplished by:
1. Emphasizing residential as the primary use, including single household dwellings, two to four household dwellings, townhouses, and apartments
Currently there are 15 single-family dwellings within the block, which also contains Tire
World and two other commercial buildings on the southeast corner, and Simkins Hallin
on the northwest corner. The predominant usage currently is residential. The north side
of E. Lamme is zoned R-2 and designated as “Urban Neighborhood” on the Future Land
Use Map. Three or the four homes on N. Broadway were built in 2013-2014, despite the
M-1 designation. I believe this expresses a clear desire by the neighborhood to retain its
residential character rather than convert to commercial at any point in the near future.
You discuss the need for more affordable housing throughout the plan; this
neighborhood has smaller lots and smaller homes that by definition are more
affordable. Given its proximity to downtown it is also a highly walkable neighborhood,
with various goods and services—as well as trails, parks, and schools—easily accessible.
As you define it—in your “City of Neighborhoods” theme—this is a good example of a
“complete community.” 1 I do not believe the M-1 designation reflects the reality of this neighborhood. As defined in City Code: The intent of the M-1 light manufacturing district is to provide for the community's needs for wholesale trade, storage and warehousing, trucking and transportation terminals, light manufacturing and similar activities. The district should be oriented to major transportation facilities yet arranged to minimize adverse effects on residential development, therefore, some type of screening may be necessary.
Please allow for the possibility of this block being rezoned as REMU by retaining the
REMU zoning designation as one that can implement the Commercial Mixed Use
future land use category.