HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-29-21 Public Comment - L. Fedro - HomeBaseFrom:Laura Fedro
To:Agenda
Subject:A stand for downtown development compliance
Date:Wednesday, September 29, 2021 10:41:35 AM
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Never, since the first days of Bozeman's habitation, has one man/developer had as much
financial/cultural/visual influence over this place we all love to call home.
Last week I was made aware that HomeBase owns the property at the corner of Story Mill
and Bridger Drive, and was alarmed to hear of the multi story building set proposed for that
entry into the Bridger Canyon.
Now the realities of what has been proposed for the Ives has been made public.
Years ago our South Bozeman neighborhood collective came before the City Commission to
ask that HomeBase reduce, in small but significant ways, the visual scale of the Black Olive,
and after many months of believing we might have a bit of chance to influence that design,
we were denied.
Since then, HomeBase has continued the march of multistory building in our downtown and
beyond.
I am fully in favor of further developing our downtown core, of building multi-story, mixed use
buildings, but I am absolutely not in favor of one man having so much development influence
over this city.
I know now that he owns these properties, there is very little, We, as community members,
can do to have any sort of control of what is happening around us. All we can do as citizens
is plead to the City Commission to steer this City ship carefully, guarding as best you can the
impact these towering structures will have on all of us 'below decks'. We must demand
design standards be met, that sensitivity to site details and the treescape be maintained and
cared for, that these structures be built with long lasting, site specific building materials, and
finally care must be taken for any and all variances requested. When the properties were
purchased, all of those site details were apparent --- unless there are very compelling
reasons, any site variances or code requirement loosening must be viewed from a long
perspective.
Our fine city was a sitting duck when this developer arrived with his pack full of out ofstate, monied financiers, and sadly our fine city will not recover from the significantly
impactful development HomeBase has built within this last decade.
Laura Fedro
Laura A. Fedro, NCIDQ, ASIDLAURA FEDRO INTERIORS INC.
214 South Willson Ave.Bozeman, MT 59715406 586 0122/0299 (f)