HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-05-20 Public Comment - J & J Jelinski - REccomendation on the Idaho Pole Urban Renewal District (URD)From:JACK and JANE JELINSKI
To:Amy Kelley Hoitsma; Agenda
Subject:RE: Public Comment to Planning Board for Tonight"s Meeting
Date:Monday, October 5, 2020 4:28:38 PM
Thank you for this Amy and Chandler,
Ramming through such a major policy decision with so many health, safety, tax impacts is unwise.
You both did a great job addressing the many issues that need to be thoroughly researched.
Jane Jelinski
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Amy Kelley Hoitsma
Sent: Monday, October 5, 2020 3:16 PM
To: agenda@bozeman.net
Subject: Public Comment to Planning Board for Tonight's Meeting
TO: City Planning Board
FROM: Amy Kelley Hoitsma, 706 E Peach St, Bozeman
RE: Recommendation on the Idaho Pole Urban Renewal District (URD)
DATE: 5 October 2020
Members of the Planning Board:
I am sorry I was unable to submit comments before the noon deadline today, but I only just
this morning received the 55+ page Pole Yard Urban Renewal District Plan, which has taken
time to review.
The Planning Board is being asked to answer a very narrow question: whether the Pole Yard
Urban Renewal District Plan is in conformance with the Bozeman Community Plan and that
the area of the Pole Yard Urban Renewal District is zoned for uses in accordance with the
Bozeman Community Plan.
I urge you to reject this URD plan at this time.
I, along with other residents of NE Bozeman, have been trying to bring into the discussion the
potentially enormous impediments and expenses that would be involved in building the
infrastructure that would be required for any development at this site. It just doesn’t make
sense to us that the City would start this process (blighting the area, creating a URD, providing
tax increment financing) without a full understanding of what those impediments and
expenses actually are. (These concerns are expressed in a letter that Chandler Dayton and I
addressed to the City Commission, attached.)
We have been told over and over again that those issues cannot be discussed until an official
development proposal been submitted and the design review process initiated. According to a
20 September 2020 article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (“Health board concerned with
potential development at Superfund site near Bozeman”):
The city hasn’t received any development applications, but [Nolan] Campbell [Idaho
Pole Company’s real estate broker] said earlier this month they are under contract with
a potential buyer.
In fact, according to the staff memorandum to the City Commission before its 15 September
vote to adopt Resolution 5145: Adopting Findings of Blight and Establishing the Necessity of
Rehabilitation and Redevelopment of the Pole Yard Area:
Economic Development staff are working with a development group that has a
transformative vision for this brownfield area in the core of our community. Staff expects
that the group will submit a development application for review within the next year.
In fact, there is a fairly flushed out concept design proposal (attached) that was given to the
Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality, which considers it a public document. It is unclear to
me why this is never mentioned in any of the presentations about possible future
development at this site.
Why wait to talk about these issues? It seems risky to me for the City to start down a path
with a developer—who perhaps decides to purchase the property specifically because a URD
has been created and tax increment financing available—and then yank permission at a later
date when something untenable or unworkable is discovered. It just seems like common sense
to tease out the potential pitfalls before committing to something this large.
The concept proposal shows residential development within the area that is zoned as M-2
now and designated as “Industrial” in the Future Land Use Map. This does not appear to be in
conformance with the Bozeman Community Plan.
The NXNE concept plan also shows development of Front Street from L Street to Rouse. This
does not comply with the Transportation Master Plan, which shows this as a
pedestrian/bicycle trail. This trail was first approved by the City Commission in 2015, but was
delayed by the Rouse Avenue reconstruction project. The trail received approval for additional
funding this year from the Trails, Open Space and Parks Committee. The City Commission is
scheduled to vote on final approval of the Front Street Connector trail on October 13, 2020.
Given the history of contamination at this site, I am very concerned about potential future
public health issues should development occur—especially residential development, as shown
in the NXNE concept plan—without cleanup of the site carried out to current residential
standards. Reading the URD Plan, one might come to the conclusion that all contamination
has been cleaned up and presents no danger. The Chronicle article quotes members of the
City-County Board of Health expressing “concerns that not enough is known about the
potential hazards at the site, which was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Superfund site list in 1986 after soil and groundwater were found to be contaminated from
wood-treating operations.” The article noted that several acres within the proposed URD still
remain on the national Superfund list.
I wholeheartedly share the concern of Health Board member Seth Walk, when he said in the
Chronicle article: “It seems like a lot of effort is being put into this before we know that
anybody can actually build on that land.”
I would encourage the Planning board to reject the “Resolution of Recommendation
recommending to the Bozeman City Commission that the Pole Yard Urban Renewal District
Plan is in conformance with the Bozeman Community Plan” until:
a. there is full disclosure about how toxic contamination at this site will be addressed—
especially in light of possible residential development, as shown in the NXNE concept
plan; and
b. the City makes an effort to project infrastructure costs that are a high priority for
public safety in this area, to determine whether a URD and TIF district designation
could possibly generate enough revenue to cover that infrastructure.
Most sincerely,
Amy Kelley Hoitsma
706 E. Peach Street, Bozeman MT 59715
(406) 581-1513
Amy Kelley Hoitsma
406-581-1513
aok@mcn.net
aokworks.com