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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-19-21 Public Comment - B. Schoessow - Buffalo Run App. 21076From:agenda@bozeman.net To:Agenda Subject:Thank you for your public comment. Date:Monday, April 19, 2021 1:04:13 PM A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted. Form Name:Public Comment Form Date & Time:04/19/2021 1:04 PM Response #:1070 Submitter ID:37259 IP address:174.45.92.49 Time to complete:18 min. , 25 sec. Survey Details Page 1 Public comment may be submitted via the form below, or by any of the following options. Public comment may also be given at any public meeting. Email: agenda@bozeman.net Mail to: Attn: City Commission PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771 First Name Beth Last Name Shirley Schoessow Email Address beth.j.shirley@gmail.com Phone Number 406-589-7074 Comments I am writing regarding the proposed Buffalo Creek development, specifically the R-4 zoning request. As a young, soon-to-be parent firmly rooted in Bozeman, I empathize with the issue of the lack of affordable housing in Bozeman. However, this development will NOT be providing affordable, quality housing in town. This area will not be accessible by bike or by foot to amenities, it will be an eye-sore smack between farmland and what is essentially functioning as an R1/R2 zone, and it will create unnecessary traffic and noise to an otherwise quiet part of town. This type of development is well-suited to the downtown area or places in North Bozeman, where similar developments have gone into place, but it does not belong in the area the developer intends to build it. The Grand Cielo development was also marketed as "affordable housing," but have you looked at what homes there are listed at? $800K for a pre-fab, copy-pasted townhome. How is that "affordable"? The better question: "For whom is that 'affordable'?" The Buffalo Creek development is going to devalue the existing properties and make it impossible for local ranchers and farmers to continue to use their land as they have done for generations, and in the meantime, the people buying these "luxury" condos will not be locals who have been forced to rent due to a lack of affordable housing. No, the people buying these condos will be the people who can afford $600K for a 2-bedroom 1.5 bath condo: people from California and Colorado looking for their summer home/ski chalet. Especially given that the location is not accessible to most of the town (MSU's campus, downtown, grocery stores, most places of employment), this development is only going to serve to encourage more out-of-towners with more money than locals to buy their second homes here, driving up the cost of housing for locals even further. What will happen, I would bet a million dollars (if I were from Colorado and could afford such a "luxury" condo for a second home), is that while the condos may be listed at an "affordable" price of around $500K, locals will be less interested in these homes because of the far-out location, and those who are still interested will be out-bid by wealthy, seasonal out-of-towners with no regard for the community, and this will drive up the cost of housing even further beyond the range of most local paychecks, making us an increasingly disconnected community. I understand the plight of renters in this town, and I want to see more affordable housing. This is not the way to do it. This is destructive to the existing community without providing any local benefits. The only person who will actually benefit from the Buffalo Creek development is the developer himself, who has demonstrated that he has no regard for the community's interests. I urge you not to rezone and not to allow this development to move forward as proposed. Sincerely, Beth Shirley Schoessow If you would like to submit additional documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .gif, .jpg, .png, .rtf, .txt) along with your comment, you may alternately address agenda@bozeman.net directly to ensure receipt of all information. Thank you, City Of Bozeman This is an automated message generated by Granicus. Please do not reply directly to this email.