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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-15-21 Public Comment - B. Parker - Buffalo Run App. 21076From:Bruce Parker To:Cyndy Andrus; Terry Cunningham; I-Ho Pomeroy; Christopher Coburn; Jennifer Madgic; Agenda Cc:mihelich@bozeman.net; Chris Saunders; Martin Matsen Subject:Comment on Buffalo Run Annexation and Zoning Request Date:Thursday, April 15, 2021 5:10:06 PM Attachments:Letter to commissioners.docx CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Attached are my personal comments regarding the Buffalo Run Subdivision Zoning and Annexation Request.I serve on the Meadow Creek HOA Board and fully support the position our board has taken. We recognize that development is absolutely necessary to accommodate the growth thatBozeman continues to experience and enjoy. I endorse development and the risk takers that make it happen. Let's do it the right way andfollow the Growth Policy that is already in place. I adamantly oppose R4 zoning;R3 makes good sense.Again, the attached comments are those of my own. Thank you for your service and thoughtful deliberations.Bruce Parker 406-671-0289 To: Bozeman City Commissioners From: Bruce Parker and Dawn Allen Re: Buffalo Run Annexation and Zoning Designation Date: April 15,2021 My wife, Dawn Allen, and I reside at 3265 Parkway Avenue in Bozeman. For the past 2½ years I have served on the board and as chair of the Meadow Creek HOA. I support 100% the positions that Meadow Creek HOA will be communicating to you in this matter. This letter, however, is written on our personal behalf and not on behalf of the board. The Buffalo Run project has drawn a lot of attention from our neighborhood and I hope you will see that; please read and consider the public comments that Meadow Creek residents submit. My letter will come at this from a little different perspective Some history: The Buffalo Run development caught Meadow Creek residents by surprise when a notice of a public hearing before the Zoning Commission was published last winter. Communications between this neighborhood and the developer were non-existent until the time of that hearing. Likewise, we received no communications – none- from planning and development staff at the City. Meadow Creek residents and our rural neighbors have been drinking from a fire hose since mid-December to understand what the developer has planned and what its impact will be on our neighborhood….and to learn and understand the public processes of annexation, zoning, permitting, etc. I am proud of the collective education and active participation of our residents. Four months later, I can summarily tell you that there is nothing in the sum of this project that makes this development beneficial to Meadow Creek. We have had only sporadic contacts with the developer since that initial hearing – and none since the second Zoning Commission hearing a few weeks ago. The Zoning Commission heard our concerns at that first hearing and voted 4- 1 to deny R5 zoning. I believe that their reasons for denying R5 were sound and that the same reasons should have prevailed with R4. The impact to Meadow Creek will be virtually the same with R4 as with R5. Reasons given by those zoning commission members in support of R4 ignored public comments which were concise, relevant, and reasoned. There was virtually no public comment that was NIMBY in nature, yet that seemed to be the prevailing take-away from those Zoning Commission members. It seemed to be evident that their minds were made up in advance of the hearing. It is safe to say that most of our residents (probably not all) recognize the growth challenges that Bozeman is faced with and that housing development is a reality that we all need to accept. We have tried to make that point in this discussion, but it seems to get lost. To the extent that there may have been a Not In My Back Yard mindset in January, that has largely evaporated. My summation of what I believe Meadow Creek residents will find acceptable follows: 1. Approve Zoning that is consistent with the City’s own Growth Plan. To me, this means that high density development needs to be placed closer to commercial, educational, and municipal services that are accessible to and can support the numbers. High density needs to be placed next to collector or arterial streets and not rely on residential streets such as Kurk for ingress and egress. Buffalo Run has a walkability index of zero (0). It is over two miles to anything! This will be a commuter neighborhood, and even zoned as R3, it will have a real impact on traffic and street safety within Meadow Creek. R4 is not consistent with the City’s Growth Plan. 2. Infrastructure needs to keep pace. Particularly roads and streets. The buildout of Fowler to at least county standards is a base-line requirement for Meadow Creek residents. It has been represented to us that the Fowler improvement would be completed prior to any construction beginning; we certainly hope that will be the case. Even with that accomplished, the increased traffic through Meadow Creek will be a challenge. The developer has represented that they will complete the “other half” of 27th between Graf and Kurk; that will help some. Understand that we are beginning to experience traffic challenges now, that will only be compounded by Gran Cielo and then Buffalo Run. 3. Meadow Creek, though zoned R3, is built out as largely R1-R2. Our new neighbor Gran Cielo is zoned R3 as is South Rows, the project that adjoins us to the east. I believe we will find Buffalo Run to be more acceptable if it is more consistent (than what R4 allows) with Meadow Creek, as built, and that makes the impact on Meadow Creek less severe and more manageable. 4. R3 is the right zoning precedent for this area. If you look at the City’s future land use map, there are 4 or 5 additional parcels of undeveloped land that adjoin Meadow Creek. Looking at our new neighbors in Gran Cielo and South Rows, their density is much greater than Meadow Creek’s and they are more properly situated on Graf (a collector street). The “future” parcels would be similarly served in the future by Blackwood and Fowler (collector streets/minor arterials). Meadow Creek is not in a NIMBY state of mind. Please do not approve R4 zoning for Buffalo Run. I do believe the Buffalo Run project and the City will gain the acceptance, if not the support, of much of Meadow Creek if annexed as an R3 neighborhood. Sincerely, Bruce Parker 3265 Parkway Ave. bparker7150@gmail.com 406-671-0289