Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-15-21 Public Comment - M. Morgner - Bozeman CoHousingFrom:Michael Morgner To:Susana Montana; Agenda Subject:Re: Co-Housing Development Date:Friday, October 15, 2021 1:30:07 PM 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. Thank you for your prompt response and sharing my concerns with your Director Matsen. While those parking "advantages" may make sense in some areas, they should be thoroughlyanalyzed. The Co-Housing has ample land area for the parking spots, so I don't see why they should be allowed to reduce their parking requirements. Their "advantage" will not translateto more affordable housing, just more profit for the developer and possible future expansion should additional property be acquired. As far as the sidewalk to Graf, I believe the proposed crosswalk would be at Concord. It isjust so odd to not require the connection to Graf for safety and should have been covered when the property was annexed, even a less expensive asphalt pathway would provide safe passagethrough that intersection. So now you'll have a sidewalk, open on the north end, kind of like a bridge to nowhere. I would also suggest a traffic study while school is in session as thosenumbers are a lot higher during those times. Or I guess that's just another "advantage" the developer has decided to use? Thank you again for your consideration. Sincerely,Michael Morgner 401 Lexington DriveBozeman, MT 59715 On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 12:18 PM Susana Montana <smontana@bozeman.net> wrote: Greetings Mr. Morgner. Thank you for your thoughtful comments on the proposed CoHousing Project. If the project is approved, the Applicant would install a 5-foot wide sidewalk along their side of Wagonwheel along the length of their frontage. They are not required to build a sidewalk northward to Graf Avenue. As you are aware, the Bozeman Municipal Code (BMC) allows various parking reductions and this Applicant is taking advantage of some of those opportunities. The City Commission recently contracted with a consultant to assess constraints to housing development and, in particular, affordable housing development. One of their recommendations is to reduce parking requirements for housing. You may want to review that report found at the City’s website :https://www.bozeman.net/government/planning/community-housing/bozeman-code-audit-to- create-and-preserve-housing The City Council is very determined to facilitate housing development in the City. I will forward your comment to our Director, Marty Matsen, who will be making a decision on the site plan within the next week or two. Have a great day. Susana Montana Senior Planner | Development Review, Community Development The Department of Community Development is revising its operations until further notice to address COVID-19. We appreciate your patience and are working hard to keep as much stability of operations as possible. There may be delays in responding to inquiries. We continue to receive and review development applications. Some application types may see delays in review due to suspension of public meetings. City of Bozeman | 20 East Olive St. | P.O. Box 1230 | Bozeman, MT 59771P: 406-582-2285 | E: smontana@bozeman.net W: www.bozeman.net/planning https://bzncloud.bozeman.net New project submittal instructions can be found here: https://www.bozeman.net/government/planning/covid-19-development-review-procedures From: Michael Morgner <mgmorgner@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 5:45 PM To: Susana Montana <smontana@BOZEMAN.NET>; Agenda <agenda@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Co-Housing Development 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. I've been a licensed real broker for over 23 years and very active in the Bozeman market. Ilive near the proposed Co-Housing Project off of Wagonwheel. As a real estate professional,I see growth as inevitable and to be expected. What I don't see is adequate parking the Cityof Bozeman approved for several developments. Take for example the Cannery. It's anightmare for parking and a prime example that the City's parking requirement methodologyis severely flawed. Why does the city not require what's written in the code for parking? How can they give some credit for parking to have a shared vehicle or expect people will beusing a ride share which virtually shut down in many areas during the pandemic? Montana has a huge amount of territory and would venture to guess that every owner at theCo-Housing project will have at least one vehicle. Have you ever considered looking at"Walkability Scores?" The location of this project has a walkability score of 7 (here's thelink to view https://www.walkscore.com/score/3120-wagon-wheel-rd-bozeman-mt-59715 ,compared to say the walkability score of the Black Olive's score of 85 - here's the link toview https://www.walkscore.com/score/110-e-olive-st-bozeman-mt-59715 ). And I'velearned that you've used the Black Olive as a comparison for the shared vehicle while it hadbarely been in operation for a year, so clearly not enough data to determine if it's working orhow it will work in the future. Having lived in neighboring Westfield Park for over 8 1/2 years, I know the traffic patternsand issues with the intersection at S. 3rd/Wagonwheel/Graf. I understand that a traffic studywas done during the summer, which is so convenient for low numbers as during the schoolyear, that intersection has a lot more traffic. It is unsafe for kids walking or riding their biketo either of the two nearby schools. I also feel that there should be some type of requirementfor the Co-Housing to provide a sidewalk on their own side of Wagonwheel and connect itto the intersection of S. 3rd and Graf to make it safer for pedestrians. A roundabout wouldbe a better option, but it's unlikely that they would pay for that. The City seriously needs to require parking as the code was written. This is not an attack onthe Co-Housing Project, it's about all projects moving forward. The growing pains we areexperiencing do not need to be amplified further by creating an unsafe environment and toofew parking spots. It really is baffling that the City cannot require what's written in the code. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Michael Morgner 401 Lexington Drive Bozeman, MT 59715 406.551.0713 m City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law.