HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-14-22 Public Comment - N. Lyon - RE_ Commenting on Nahorniak Commons Master Site Plan- Application 22034From:Nakeisha Lyon
To:Jake Butynski
Cc:ryan.j.hudock@imegcorp.com; markjnahorniak@gmail.com; Agenda; Mike Veselik; Alicia Paz-Solis
Subject:RE: Commenting on Nahorniak Commons Master Site Plan- Application 22034
Date:Wednesday, September 14, 2022 12:35:09 PM
Hi Jake,
Thank you for your public comment on this project.
Your comment has been noted for our records and forwarded to the representative to address or
respond to if they deem necessary.
I completely understand the residential parking issues within this area that you speak of, as I have
driven along Meriwether Avenue myself and will be residing off Michael Grove Avenue here shortly.
You can see that there is definitely a disconnect between the existing real world demands in this
area of today and what the BMC required at the time of development.
The code provisions are not always a one size fits all standard especially when the end usability of a
development changes with the market over time and the intended physical use of something is used
for something else (garage for a car is used only for storage).
This appears to be a pinch point for many areas in Bozeman as dwelling units with the intention of
housing one family with one or two cars, are rented out per bedroom to three occupants each
having their own vehicle.
Unless otherwise denoted in the Bozeman Municipal Code and in conformance with certain
restrictions, on-street parking is allowed on all local street.
I am not aware if the City has any plan for changes regarding on street parking in this area, nor if
there are any controls in place for the enforcement of on street parking within this area as I believe
these mechanisms are mostly utilized downtown, by MSU, or are up to individual associations to
regulate beyond what code and parking enforcement with the City can do.
I would highly encourage you to contact our Parking Department directly, if you haven’t already
done so, as the department and the Parking Commission met regularly to discuss the issue you have
brought up which I think is a concern for other neighborhoods and areas in the Community.
Additionally, you’ve mentioned that City codes are being broken to accommodate parking along
Meriwether Avenue which I am not sure if our Parking Department is aware of.
Here is a link to our Parking Department and I have forwarded this correspondence to the Parking
Manager.
https://www.bozeman.net/departments/economic-development/parking
In regards to 22-034, Nahorniak Commons, the applicant has provided the necessary parking
required by the BMC for their proposed development with each dwelling unit having one parking in
the garage, one parking space in the driveway, and one parking space along the drive aisle into the
development, a total of 3 parking spaces for the 3 bedrooms in each dwelling.
Unfortunately, the code does not speak to parking for residential visitors and the applicant would
have to speak to how they plan to control that if they see necessary.
With the ITE traffic demand information provided for review and approval by our Engineering
Department, the development has determined that they have the capacity to handle their generated
parking, and therefore, residential parking spillover should not occur.
Though the City has a mechanisms to enforce parking standards and requirements, the developer or
individual association, if they plan to establish one, is responsible for regulating the parking on site to
prevent issues from occurring. If you find that the individual property owners of the dwellings or
tenants are violation of code provision, please contact Code Enforcement and Parking Enforcement
accordingly.
Let me know if you have any further questions,
Nakeisha Lyon, AICP | Associate Planner | Community DevelopmentPronouns: she, her, hersCity of Bozeman | 20 East Olive St. | P.O. Box 1230 | Bozeman, MT 59771P: 406.582.2963 | E: nlyon@bozeman.net | W: www.bozeman.net/planningThe City has enhanced our project intake process and will now be receiving all project submittals - New andRevisions, through ProjectDox. As a result of this transition in process, response times to inquiries may bedelayed. We understand the impacts any delay may create for your site development and we will make everyeffort to provide you with the highest level of customer service in a timely manner. We encourage you to reviewour Development Center webpage and become familiar with the new intake process. Your patience during thistransition is greatly appreciated.
From: Jake Butynski <jakebutynski@outlook.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 5:57 PM
To: Nakeisha Lyon <nlyon@BOZEMAN.NET>
Subject: Commenting on Nahorniak Commons Master Site Plan- Application 22034
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
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Hello Nakeisha,
I received notice of an application to develop 5170 Durston road. Although I fully recognize
the pressures of development in our town, I wanted to take this as an opportunity to address
the concern around sufficient residential parking in this area due to the high density of recent
townhome construction.
Meriwether Ave. has experienced an extremely high level of development over the last few
years resulting in the street consisting primarily of townhomes. The reality is that most are
rentals with the number of tenants matching the number of bedrooms or greater. This has
resulted in full driveways and insufficient street parting due to the layout of driveways and
insufficient curb length between them. I lived on Meriwether for a number of years and then
moved to a neighboring street. With the completion of recent development on Merriwether,
we now see that residents have parking spillover into adjacent streets due to the lack of
sufficient parking for each residence.
This new development (22034), the planning around the remaining empty lots (1A-3C of Block
1) adjacent to it and the City's planning for Meriwether needs to be considered holistically to
protect the neighborhoods around it from having to shoulder permanent additional residential
parking spillover due to poor development planning. Please take an opportunity to visit
Meriwether Ave. after work one day when residents are home. I believe you to would
recognize that the planning for parking was insufficient for a one-vehicle per bedroom
projected use case. I'm concerned that this new development will experience a similar issue of
only two active vehicle spots per residence when they are three-bedroom units. This may
likely cause similar overflow into Valley Drive since Meriwether will likely already be over
capacity. In the planning of a new development, I don't feel it should be acceptable to expect
the real-world parking demands to be met through an expectation of residential overflow into
other streets beyond the development. The Development needs to design in sufficient parking
for real-world needs of its tenants. The Traffic Analysis Report notes 24 parking spaces but I
believe this statement includes a vehicle inside the garage. The reality is that a vehicle in the
garage should not count if the parking is two vehicles deep as that is not sustainable for three
vehicle household shuffling cars. It may be written into code but no houshold of three active
tenants (each with vehicles) functions in this order. Residents will find alternative solutions.
This also leaves little to no buffer for visitor parking. We can see Meriwether as a strong and
realistic case study where the units cannot sustainably support all vehicles on site. Bozeman
has street parking codes which many of these residents have to break in order to live on
Meriwether due to insufficient development planning.
Happy to discuss further. I only intent to highlight a concern I've seen in this specific part of
town which has affected most residence living in the area. I hope it can be avoided through
thoughtful planning in the future.
Cheers,
Jake Butynski