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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-21 Public Comment - K. VanDeWalle - Mountains Walking 21319From:Kristin VanDeWalle To:Lynn Hyde; Agenda Cc:Cyndy Andrus; Terry Cunningham; Jennifer Madgic; I-Ho Pomeroy; Christopher Coburn Subject:Protest to Applications #21318 and #21319 Date:Tuesday, October 19, 2021 11:54:34 AM Attachments:Letter of Protest for Applications 21318 & 21319.pdf 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. Ms Hyde, Attached is our letter of protest to applications #21318 and #21319. Please forward this letterto members of the zoning commission prior to their meeting on October 25th and the planning board prior to their meeting on November 1st. City Commissioners,Please find attached our letter of opposition to applications #21318 and #21319 that will go before the city commission on November 23rd. Thank you,Ken & Kristin VanDeWalle Property owners and residents of:408 North Plum Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 Protest of the Following Applications: ●414 and 422 North Plum Avenue Zone Map Amendment application requesting a change to B-2M from R-2 and M-1. Application # 21319 ●414 North Plum Avenue Growth Plan Amendment application to change Urban Neighborhood to Community Mixed-Use. Application # 21318 Protest by property owners, Ken & Kristin VanDeWalle at 408 North Plum Avenue, Bozeman, MT, in the established R-2 neighborhood, directly to the south of the above applications by Mountains Walking Brewery.Submitted 10/19/2021 We are against the proposed zone map amendment and growth plan amendment applications and are asking that you NOT approve the above applications for the following reasons: We have lived at 408 N Plum Ave for 23 years and understand the character of our neighborhood. This is a ‘beyond reasonable’ expansion. The purpose of zoning as defined in our municipal code is to give property owners some predictability when they are investing in their homes and neighborhood (Sec. 38.08.010). Where is the predictability if it can be changed so drastically from a modest residential R2 zone to the most extreme and dense zone B-2M? The proposed parking lot and industrial expansion of the Mountains Walking Brewery business to the south is an excessive encroachment of manufacturing into an established residential neighborhood. It will affect the value of the surrounding homes and further invade into an established and thriving neighborhood. The infiltration of an expanded 24/7 industrial beer production facility will deteriorate this residential neighborhood. In addition, a zoning change to B-2M appears to allow 100% lot coverage and the potential for a 60-foot tall building to be built along our residential property line. This is completely out of scale for an established residential neighborhood, especially on N Plum Ave - a non-through narrow neighborhood street. The following bullet points list current conditions at the Mountains Walking Brewery. The past can be a good indicator of how the proposed expansion will encroach into an established residential neighborhood. We can only assume the conditions will worsen with the proposed expansion... ●For the past 4 years, since Mountains Walking Brewery began, it has been open for business every day including all holidays. The brewery/restaurant serves food and drinks 11:30 am-8 pm, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. The production aspect of the business is 24/7, 365 days a year. The neighbors have no respite, even on holidays. With the proposed expansion, trucking, equipment use, noise, and unscreened outdoor storage will all increase if these applications are approved. ●Equipment, supplies, and discarded materials are piled up along the south end of the 422 N Plum Ave property and are not screened as required. These piles will likely multiply with increased production and be pushed to the extended southern residential border if these applications are approved. ●There is constant noise and activity from equipment and vehicles loading and unloading supplies 7 days a week. This will only increase on narrow neighborhood streets if these applications are approved. ●The decibel reading of mechanical equipment that runs 24/7 was measured this past week. The constant hum was measured from the adjacent property line. Here are the decibel readings: 9 am 58-67 dB, 12 pm: 71-74 dB, 9 pm 63-67 dB, 12 am 60-67 dB . These numbers exceed any 1 “reasonable person” standard of 60 dB. In addition, the overhead doors of their production facility are open with the high pitch industrial sounds of aluminum cans rolling down a conveyor belt to be filled with beer. If the change of zoning is allowed additional mechanical units likely will be placed at the southern property line adjacent to residential homes. ●There is an encroachment of equipment, firewood, supplies, and waste into the alley right of way. This will extend further into a residential area if these applications are approved.(See Photo 2) ●Sunday mid-morning delivery trucks with trailers are often unloading and loading hops and/ or ingredients for beer production with a forklift back & forth across N Plum Ave from Orange St while people walk with their children and dogs. With neighborhood density increasing, residents will be more greatly affected with increased deliveries on residential streets if these applications are approved. ●In the winter, a snow pile averaging 10’ high x 15’ wide x 10’ deep from the 422 N Plum Ave. parking lot has been plowed into the 414 N Plum Ave side yard for the last several years. These piles will likely multiply with increased parking and be pushed to the extended southern residential border if these applications are approved. ●The maintenance of 422 N Plum Ave. landscaping is non-existent. The lawn and landscaping are not cared for regularly. This lack of care would extend into a residential area that values their landscaping appearance if these applications are approved. The following bullet points question the claims made by Mountains Walking Brewery in their applications: ●The proposed changes do not increase or change the ability to continue having a social gathering space for the community as claimed in the application. The existing pub/restaurant capacity does not change, patrons will not increase because of the applications. What will change is the production capacity of Mountains Walking Brewery, which will, in turn, increase the stress of trucks, equipment, and production noises onto the health and welfare of residents and be a detriment to the neighborhood it encroaches into. ●While being able to walk to a neighborhood pub is great, we have observed over the past few years sparsely filled bicycle racks and increased parking on both sides of the narrow residential N Plum Ave. street, leaving one narrow car lane to weave through, negating the Mountains Walking Brewery statement that people are walking there in large numbers. ●If the zoning change is about creating workforce housing, then why not a zoning change to R-3 or R-4? With R-2 zoning they could build a new home for themselves (the owners of Mountains Walking Brewery) as they have said to their neighbors since purchasing the property and an ADU off of the alley to house some employees. ●Workforce housing and affordable housing are in demand and a major priority of the city planners. With the zoning of B-2M only encouraging the integration of multi-family residential use, but not requiring it, the question arises... What if the zoning change is passed on the feel-good premise of a multi-use property with workforce housing and Mountains Walking Brewery increases the industrial capacity of their business and later decides to not add workforce housing, while taking advantage of the generous zero set-back and 6-floor height allowances - what are the consequences for misleading the City of Bozeman of their intent? ●The natural industrial expansion of Mountains Walking Brewery should be to the north and east as stated in their applications “The proposed future land use will match the adjacent areas to the north and east along with the associated and adjacent brewery site.”Never, do the two applications mention the dense residential areas to the south, west, and east where the expansion 2 would take place, or the impact on the historical aspects of a conservation overlay district and the established R2 neighborhood they are requesting a zoning change for that is to the south, west, & east. How is our neighborhood more resilient by tearing down a residential home in an established neighborhood and pushing an active and sprawling industrial production facility that has forklifts unloading large open bins of hops, grain and materials across N Plum Ave from Orange St on a Sunday morning where people are constantly walking with their children and dogs? How does that add or enhance our residential neighborhood? How does our neighborhood get bolstered with increasing the industrial output of Mountains Walking? How is pressing an industrial building with high decibels of indoor and outdoor equipment within a few feet of the property lines of residential neighbors a good aspect of life? The proposed amendment does not match the established zoning of R2 and does NOT blend into the established residential neighborhood by extending the industrial sprawl of Mountains Walking closer in and surrounded by residential lots on the west, south, and east sides of the expansion.(See Photo 3) Expansion of industrial capacity does not better serve the community or patrons. It will not increase the social gathering already established at the Mountains Walking restaurant. How can you ensure expansion will increase jobs and how can you ensure employee housing is for employees in need of affordable housing and not the owners? Again, how does industrial expansion for increased beer production bring people together and improve mental health? The increased industrial noises from trucks and machinery will wear on the neighborhood's mental health. How does employee housing make an employee feel safe, secure, and stable? Wouldn’t employees feel beholden to their employers since they live on-premises? Lastly, we wish their business success, but the fact is many businesses fail. If that happens, then the neighborhood is left with a zoning change that could enable a variety of inappropriate businesses to be pocketed within an established R2 neighborhood. There are neighborhood rumors of change coming with the industrial businesses to the North and East of Mountains Walking Brewery, perhaps this is the direction they could consider for expansion of the industrial output of their business. For all the reasons stated above, we object to applications # 21318 and # 21319. Sincerely, Ken & Kristin VanDeWalle 408 N Plum Ave., Bozeman, MT 59715 3 Photo 1: Industrial overflow unscreened on the south edge of Mountains Walking Brewery Photo 2: Encroachment and sprawl along the alley on the east side of Mountains Walking Brewery Photo 3: Established residential property that would border expansion of Mountains Walking Brewery to south 4