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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-21 Public Comment - B. Clem - Wallance North Support Zoning Change & Parking GarageLETTER OF SUPPORT FROM: Bill and Bobbi Clem Wallace North LLC 810 N Wallace Ave. Suite B Bozeman, MT 59715 We are writing in support of two current issues under consideration in the Historic Brewery District in NE Bozeman where our business has been located, and we have owned or rented commercial property for over 20 years. Bobbi has been part of the group that hosted the R/UDAT (Rural/Urban Design Assistance Team) and has been a member (currently President) of the NURB (or NEURB) Northeast Urban Renewal Board. ZONING CHANGE FROM M1 AND NEHMU TO B2-M - COMMUNITY MIXED USE The current NEHMU is a combination of M-1 Industrial zoning and R-2, which allows only medium-density residential one or two households,or as an accessory dwelling. The NEHMU zoning no longer reflects the actual residents of the district. The district has evolved into a mix that fits with the goal of a B2-M zone described as “a vibrant mixed-use that serves both the immediate area and the broader trade area”.Our district is home to many small, family-owned businesses and a combination of single family, apartments and row homes . Several craft breweries, Wild Crumb Bakery, Treeline Coffee, and 2-3 food trucks are located in the district. Businesses in the district, and NENA organize and hold community events like the Northside Stroll, Tin-works Art, and the Parade of Sheds. Live from the Divide offers small intimate concerts featuring local artists. There is a proposal for expanding this spring and summer to include more community events on Saturday evenings and Sundays that may include food trucks, live music, dancing, farmer’s markets, Sunday high tea. We not only support this efforts, but have agreed to let these events use our parking lots for these weekend events. The other reason we support the zoning change as it will allow greater density, which we think is the most effective tool that can help limit sprawl.The NE Mill district is perfectly situated to be a high-density district. The district is walkable and bikeable, not just to downtown and the surrounding residential communities, but the Cannery District to the west and the Storymill Community Park to the north. PARKING STRUCTURE ON THE OLD BREWERY PROPERTY: The second proposal we support is adding a multi-level community parking garage that would be located on the old brewery property. This multi-level parking structure is another key component that would let the NE neighborhood increase density. It only makes sense that instead of many individual surface parking lots, there be smaller, individual lots and one shared larger parking structure that could be shared. Since the district has both business and residential components, and is increasingly having weekend community activities, the structure would be utilized almost 24/7. This district was planned before current zoning, and so many of the streets are narrow, and a parking structure would allow the needed parking without making the surface street congested. A REAL WORLD EXAMPLE OF HOW THE ZONING CHANGE & PARKING STRUCTURE WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Several years ago after the planning department adopted new Block Frontage Standards to encourage density by eliminating the required 20’ setback from the street we began exploring the option of replacing an old, non-historic 2500 sq.ft. building and inefficient parking lot with a new, larger multi-story building. Preliminary planning showed that we could probably build up to a 6500 sq.ft. per floor three-story structure plus parking. The parking required for the M-1 zoning immediately made having all three levels commercial impossible, so we explored having a multi-use building with commercial space on the ground level, and two levels with each level having 1100 - 1200 sq.ft. apartments per floor. We had assumed that we could ask for a variance that would allow us to use some of the same planning rules that would have applied if the same building was located in a B2-M zone, such as having residential units on the upper levels would also allow us to count the 12 parking spaces on the west and north side of our property which only count toward your parking requirement for residential property, stacking off-street parking,and parking reductions by providing lots of bike parking, proximity to a Streamline bus stop, access to a shared car. Our planning never materialized as during our preliminary planning department review, we were told that even if we changed to the NEHMU from our M-1 zone, we still would probably not be able to have apartments because the R-2 designation did not allow this. Even if we provided what would allowed us to ask for parking reductions if the same building was located in a B2-M zone, this would not apply to the NEHMU district. The zoning restrictions were a major factor in our decision to put the project on hold. LONG TERM LEASE IN THE PARKING STRUCTURE We are not certain that we will build the building we had hoped to build on the north part of our property, but the zoning changes and addition of the parking structure, which would be immediately across the street from this new building,would both make it much more feasible. We understand that part of what would make the parking structure feasible for the city, would be to have long-term leases with area properties similar to what exists for the downtown parking structure. We would like to be considered as a candidate for one of these long-term leases.