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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-03-21 Public Comment - G. & C. Shanafelt - Lazarawicz Annexation 3 July 2021 Bozeman City Clerk 121 North Rouse Avenue PO Box 1230 Bozeman, Mt. 59715 Aplication#20365 Dear Sir, My wife and I attended the recent Zoning Commission Hearing on 28 June 21' concerning the proposed development of the 40 acre wheat field directly West of our home on 5590 Staffanson Road, reference application#20365 with interest. It is obvious that the developer is intent on saying anything he thinks will win approval of his request to develop this land whether true or not. My wife and know full well that this project in some shape will eventually be approved but again we ask that it be done in a reasonable and sensible way using some common sense. It is our view that the density of this project is too dense and the traffic flow to and from this proposed project makes no good sense at all, it doesn't take a traffic engineer to see the problem this project creates. The "transportation network" that is proposed will simply not work. First you already have the traffic from Huffine Lane traveling to and from MSU on Cottonwood road as well as that traffic to and from the Town Pump on the already busy corner. The new hospital facility that was mentioned to be at Gooch Hill road in the zoning meeting is actually on the corner of Huffine and Cottonwood lane which is already bringing additional traffic to the busy corner. Along with this traffic are the residents of Loyal Gardens and the future traffic from the new housing development that is being built directly behind the Town Pump which we understand will bring in the neighborhood of an additional 400 residences. Now along with this congestion it is being proposed to add traffic from the proposed subdivision from two roads from Staffanson Subdivision plus through Loyal Gardens onto to Cottonwood Road. Doing the math, at full build out of these two projects it seems there will be way too many vehicles accessing Cottonwood road which will cause gridlock to say the least even with road being widened from Loyal Gardens south to the roundabout on Stuckey. Loyal Gardens like similar subdivisions in Bozeman are built on such small lots that overflow is parked in the streets such as drift boats,RV's,work trucks,snowmobiles and family vehicles that can't be parked in the driveway or garage which results in the two lane road being reduced to 1 1/2 lanes. At any rate the traffic on Cottonwood will probably back up south down Cottonwood to the point that it will be necessary to wait through a series of lights to access Huffine. It will also be difficult to access Cottonwood road from Loyal Gardens and the new project behind the Town Pump when traffic does back up. I have never seen a traffic counter on Cottonwood Road but if this has been done it would be interesting to see the existing numbers in order to anticipate future traffic and how it would work or not work. The developer stated that traffic could be much more on the existing roads with modifications and could withstand considerable more traffic than exists today which may be true but is this sensible to load up roads to their maximum capacity??Where does quality of life enter into the request? If alternate access to this project is not found then Staffanson Road will become a construction access road which.will result in years of intense traffic and difficulty in getting in and out of our area. The last issue-we have is EMS,will these anticipated bottle necks and 90 degree turns result in increased response times?What about large, heavy fire vehicles? If a bridge is built across the °7ir.ngation canal will it be designed to support a fire vehicle?How would an emergency vehicle be able to'turn south on Cottonwood Road off of Huffine during peak traffic time or for that matter north from Stuckey with the road fiill of vehicles? The bottom line is this project in our view is not well though out at all, the developer needs to go back to the drawing board and find additional access to this project that doesn't negatively affect the immediate area like the present proposal does. We would like to note too that we did not appreciate the lecture by the commission member who went on about that he was sick and tired of hearing of people with"not in my back yard" mentalities.We don't feel we fall into that category but also know that it is a natural emotion to nearby development. The commission member needs to keep his personal opinions to himself, he was elected to represent all the people... Yes we are in a small inclusive area here on Staffanson Road and speaking for ourselves we understand the desire to develop this piece of property but take exception to the way it is presently being proposed with the high density and the lack of any kind of sensible traffic pattern. Respectfully submitted, PAL, Gary&Christiine Shanafelt 5590 Staffanson Road Bozeman, Mt. 59718 406.586.0256 gcshanafelt@gmail.com