HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-21-21 Public Comment - D. Thompson - Buffalo Run App. 21076From:Delaney Thompson
To:Agenda
Subject:Application 21076 Public Comment
Date:Sunday, March 21, 2021 5:16:17 PM
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Dear Commissioners,
I am writing to voice my opposition to the annexation and zone mapamendment of a proposed R-4 zoning district, known as Buffalo Run
Subdivision.
As I am sure you very well know, Montana State Law provides the criteriaand guidelines for which zoning amendments shall abide by. Montana
Code Annotated (MCA) Title 76, Chapter 2, Part 3 is the governing law
with regards to municipal zoning and as such the proposal must meet the
criteria and consider the guidelines set forth. The criteria which have notbeen met by the proposed application are as follows.
MCA 76-2-304
(1) Zoning regulations must be made:(a) in accordance with a growth policy.
(b) designed to: (iii) Facilitate the adequate provision of
transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other publicrequirements
(2) In the adoption of zoning regulations, the municipal governing body
shall consider: (b) The effect on motorized and nonmotorizedtransportation systems;
The governing growth policy in this case is the 2020 Bozeman
Community Plan, which does not support high density residentialdevelopments in rural areas that must be accessed solely by a personal
vehicle. This sentiment is reiterated throughout the plan’s text as well as
in its goals.
DCD-2.2 “Support higher density development along main corridors [...]”EPO-3.2 “[...] reduce annual per capita vehicle miles traveled”
The proposed zoning district would go directly against these themes by
placing density far away from any amenities. The application attempts to
justify this by asserting that Fowler will soon be a bustling commercialthoroughfare; however, this presumption has no basis in reality and noevidence to back it up. Further more, the Community Plan states that
higher density residential areas (which R-4 is classified as) are to be in
proximity to commercial mixed use areas. There are currently no suchareas near the property and the Future Land Use Map does not include
any such districts adjacent to the property.
Per Bozeman Municipal Code 38.300.100, an R-4 zoning district is
appropriate for areas served by transit. The subject property is not
served by transit nor are there any plans in place for transit to serve thevicinity in the future. The 2020 Bozeman Community Plan states
that higher density residential areas are to be near commercial mixed
use areas in order to provide access to services and employment
opportunities without the use of a car. Because of the subject property’slocation outside of existing city limits in a rural agricultural area, future
residents will be forced to drive personal vehicles to access any in town
amenities such as employment, shopping, school, etc. which goes directly
against the Community Plan’s intent of placing higher density residentialdevelopments near such amenities.
Code and Community Plan issues aside, I strongly urge you to visit thesite in person if you have not yet had the opportunity to do so:
• From South 19th Avenue you will turn onto Stucky Road, exiting the
Bozeman City Limits. From here you will travel 1 mile through the
county, until reaching Fowler Lane. Turn onto Fowler Lane and travelanother three quarters of a mile through rural farm land. Here you will
reach the subject property. Now look around you and imagine a high
density residential development in this location. You are surrounded on
all sides by agriculture.• From Graff Street you will turn onto South 27th Avenue, a collector
street designed to handle traffic transiting from one neighborhood to
another or to a larger arterial street. But here is where the problem
begins. Now you will turn west onto Kurk Drive, a small residential streetthat bisects the heart of a single family neighborhood called Meadow
Creek. At the end of this street you will reach the subject property. Now
imagine the traffic that a high density residential development will create,
being funneled down Kurk Drive, through the middle of Meadow Creek,drastically changing the character of the existing neighborhood.
While the need for additional housing in Bozeman is very apparent, so is
the need for thoughtful development and careful growth planning. If anR-4 zoning district is approved in this location, it will be the first and only
annexed high density residential zoning district in Bozeman that does not
lie along any existing arterial or collector street and does not meet the
intent of such a district per Bozeman Municipal Code. If an R-4 zoningdistrict is approved in this location, it will set a troublesome precedent for
future annexations that may also not comply with Bozeman Municipal
Code. Please consider the impact your decision will have on not only the
existing neighborhood, but the future growth and development ofBozeman.
Sincerely,
Delaney Thompson3356 S. 26th Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59718