HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-21 Public Comment - B. Rogers - Bozeman CoHousingFrom:Brianne Rogers
To:Susana Montana; Agenda
Subject:Application #21096 - public comment
Date:Tuesday, October 19, 2021 1:23:18 PM
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Planner Montana,
Please accept my personal public comment on application #21096, project name: BozemanCoHousing residential development site plan.
I understand and appreciate the vision Bozeman Cohousing has put forward in their
application. Their hopes for their community are positive and I wish them success in buildingthe community they envision and am committed to being a good neighbor.
I am concerned, however, that aspirations rarely translate into reality (especially in 10+ years
as founding membership turns over). Having served on our HOA board on and off since I firstpurchased this property, I understand how challenging governance can be, even with clear
covenants and consistent enforcement. I admire their intent for consensus-based decisionmaking, yet remain hopeful that as problems arise we will be able to collaboratively address
them, neighbors to neighbors.
With fewer than two parking spaces per unit, the neighborhood I have invested in will becomethe overflow parking lot for Bozeman Cohousing residents and visitors. Car-lined streets will
reduce the safety of our neighborhood, impact the community feel, and detract from the valueof my property. I look forward to reviewing the use of their three car share vehicles (which
reduce their parking requirement by 15 spaces) and support the City in carefully reviewingtheir annual reports as well to ensure that the intent is matching up to practice; if it is not, I
expect that the City will require them to replace those spaces on their property? There must bediligence and follow-up to maintain the integrity of the planning department.
I appreciate that the City Commission is, as you state, "very determined to facilitate housing
development in the City" and that relaxing parking requirements can increase affordability forsome developments. I do not believe, however, that reducing parking requirements by 20
spaces has made this development any more affordable. They have sufficient land to house allof their parking, but the City has instead allowed them to maintain more of their open space
through parking reductions and therefore has left it up to the surrounding neighborhoods toprovide the parking space they will need for a functioning lifestyle in wintery Montana. As a
planning professional, our Commissioners needed help understanding from you how thesedepartures and trades-offs will impact existing community members. It is disappointing to be
in a position as a lifetime City of Bozeman taxpayer to be left footing the bill (throughdecreased property values and sellability) of aspirational planning.
Finally, the lack of investment in multi-modal transportation by the City is disheartening. I
have lived in south Bozeman my entire life - first busing to Irving Elementary and thenwalking to Morning Star and later Sacajawea when they were built. S. 3rd went through many
iterations of attempting to accommodate pedestrian and bike transport in these schoolneighborhoods, but City investment simply hasn't kept up with demand as developments have
been approved farther and farther south without the supporting bus, sidewalk, or bike lane
infrastructure. Affording a 15-space parking reduction for three car shares, which will result inan increase in pedestrian and biking modes of transportation, without any support for bike
lanes or sidewalk connectivity beyond the sidewalk island is again expecting that neighboringsubdivisions will carry the load of increased multi-modal need. We will plow and maintain our
sidewalks for all to use and simply wish the City would step up to invest likewise. The City isincentivizing a vehicle-reduced lifestyle without making the investments needed to support the
climate-smart multi-modal transportation vision they purport.
This high-density development changes the very fabric of our community. We recognizeBozeman is changing; we simply ask that the City step up to support the future it envisions to
ensure we can all enjoy the communities we have each worked so hard to build and not bringhardships upon each other with planning that focuses on density, but is not comprehensive in
its approach by not addressing the transportation infrastructure that would minimize itsimpacts on stable neighborhoods and advance stated city goals and plans for a walkable,
bikeable community.
With appreciation for your work as a public servant,Brianne Rogers
355 Concord Drive