HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-08-22 Public Comment - K. Filipovich - Re_ Application 21356From:Karen Filipovich
To:Amy Kelley Hoitsma
Cc:Agenda
Subject:Re: Application 21356
Date:Tuesday, February 8, 2022 4:19:31 PM
Attachments:City_Commission_RE_Lamme_Rezone.docx
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Thanks, Amy! I just got back into town and will try to comment tonight during the meeting
Karen
On Feb 8, 2022, at 2:29 PM, Amy Kelley Hoitsma <aok@mcn.net> wrote:
Honorable Mayor Andrus and Bozeman City Commissioners:
I respectfully disagree with the staff report recommending a zoning change for217 W Lamme Street, 215 W Lamme Street and 216 N 3rd Avenue
(Application 21356). I ask that you do not approve changing the zoning from R-4to B-3.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle published a very thoughtful—and I thought
prescient—editorial this past Sunday (6 February). While the subject wasostensibly about parking—and specifically downtown parking—it really was
about the rapid pace of development in our beloved city, and whether it isoutpacing our ability to service that development with adequate infrastructure. It
was also about whether B-3 development is negatively impacting the character ofour neighborhoods:
But is parking really the problem or is it just a symptom? Maybe the
commission’s real problem with downtown is real estate development sorapid it’s outpacing any efforts to create more parking. Builders are
snapping up every square foot they can and erecting mid-rises at an almostfrantic pace. This while longtime residents look on with dismay as
new buildings cast shadows over their homes.
The editorial also pointed out the myth that increasing density downtown willsomehow alleviate sprawl:
But let’s not kid ourselves: Those developers aren’t building out of devotion
to smart planning; they’re making millions.
There is no mystery about what will happen if you rezone this parcel to B-3: itwill immediately be resold to a developer who will seek permits for
buildings maximizing the zone’s mass and height regulations, with commercialspaces on the ground floor and luxury units above. (Either that, or another 6-story
hotel.) We’ve been here before: residents of the NE neighborhood asked you notto change the zone to B-3 for the Medical Arts Building parking lot, knowing full
well it would result in a massive development extending well into the NEneighborhood.
Once this parcel is rezoned as B-3 and a development proposal submitted, the
City has very few tools to shape that development: If it meets code, it will bebuilt. If the City tries to deny, the developer will sue.
But today the Commission has a much more powerful tool to slow the “frantic
pace” of B-3 development. It can choose not to approve this zone change in favorof preserving the current R-4 zoning. At this point in time, there is a huge need for
more housing, not more Downtown commercial spaces and certainly not more“luxury units.”
Please vote no on this zone change request.
With my best,
Amy Kelley Hoitsma