HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-18-22 Public Comment - L. Barnard - Zone changeFrom:Larry Barnard
To:Agenda
Subject:Zone change
Date:Tuesday, January 18, 2022 11:31:57 AM
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.
To the Bozeman City Commission
I certainly never thought that I would be defending R-4 zoning in my neighborhood but now that yet
another nearby property owner is applying for a zoning change to B-3 (Lamme and 3rd) it is the
obvious side for me to be on. This isn’t the first attempt here on Bozeman’s North side to change the
rules to suit a developer over objections from neighbors. The city itself carried the banner of
development in our neighborhood a few years ago and applied for the change, ostensibly, as map
“house-keeping” to make the B-3 zone more square shaped. And a mere two years later there is a
proposal for that same property to build yet another 5 story (or maybe 6 story) building right there
on that former R-4 property.
What is the point of zoning and planning in the first place if developers only have to impose their
manifest destiny on a neighborhood to change it to their whim? And, anyone who objects is labeled
a NIMBY or anti-smart growth as we are talked down to by even the city commission as well as the
developers for defending our neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that we bought into, years ago, with
the trust that our zoning was decided and safely on the books. The commissioners said they
understood our concerns when we packed the meetings in protest and still they voted in favor of
accommodating the development machine.
“Density” and “infill” are some buzz words used to justify the course of Bozeman’s development but
virtually all the building in and near the core of Bozeman is not meant to, is not going to, satisfy the
critical affordable housing shortage for people that live here. That development is going to be for
people that do not live here now, people who don’t even know they are going to live here someday.
And, at the same time, urban sprawl continues, unabated, across the valley. The only vision by our
leaders in Bozeman is the vision of, mostly, one developer who’s only history or attachment to the
community is to make money.
Larry Barnard
North Grand Avenue
Bozeman