HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-31-22 Public Comment - A. Hoitsma - Application 22218_ Cloverleaf Zone Map AmendmentFrom:Amy Kelley Hoitsma
To:Agenda
Cc:Todd Hoitsma
Subject:Application 22218: Cloverleaf Zone Map Amendment
Date:Monday, October 31, 2022 2:58:49 PM
Attachments:City_Commission_RE_Cloverleaf_ZMA_30OCT2022.docx
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Please consider our comments for this item on tomorrow’s City Commission agenda.Thank you.
Amy Kelley Hoitsma406-581-1513
aok@mcn.netaokworks.com
TO: Bozeman City Commission FROM: Amy Kelley and Todd Hoitsma 706 E. Peach Street Bozeman MT 59715 RE: Application 22218: Cloverleaf Zone Map Amendment DATE: 30 October 2022 Honorable Mayor Andrus and Bozeman City Commissioners: As you know, Outlaw Partners are seeking to redevelop the 3.1995-acre Bronken’s property on E. Peach/Plum/Cottonwood/Ida. They are requesting a Zone Map Amendment (ZMA) to change the zoning of the property from Northeast Historic Mixed Use (NEHMU) to Community Business District Mixed Use (B-2M). Based on our correspondence with both the developer and with David Fine from the City, we understand that the B-2M zoning will allow for more residential and less commercial than NEHMU would require. While the maximum building height allowed in B-2M is greater than in NEHMU (5 stories or 60 feet, whichever is less, as opposed to 50 feet in NEHMU), the developers have told us that they have no intention of building 5-story structures, nor do they intend to build “luxury units” as they did with the Wildlands project. Their current vision is to have a row of 2-3 story walk-up townhouses along E. Peach, a new east/west alley that is a continuation of the one to the west (that could possibly terminate at a new north/south alley in the center of the property), and rental units that would contain some affordable/attainable units on the Cottonwood side (which is required in order for them to receive TIF funding for the Wildlands development), with potentially no commercial spaces at all. It is our understanding that in NEHMU, apartments (defined as any housing with five or more attached units) are an “accessory use,” which means that they can be “less than 50 percent of the gross floor area of the building, and not located on the ground floor” (Table 38.310.040.C, BMC). This provision could exclude many kinds of townhomes/row houses with 5 or more units, as well as traditional apartments. NEHMU also requires commercial uses on the ground floor and in at least 50% of the gross floor area of these buildings. Were the property zoned B-2M, we are told, the entire property could be built out as residential. The maximum building height in B-2M would be reduced if the buildings are entirely residential: these are capped at 50ft (Table 38.320.050, BMC). The developers presented to the neighborhood in a virtual Town Hall on October 28, 2022, sharing their vision for the project and answering questions. They told us that
several other potential buyers considered the property with the current zoning; one envisioned building a 5-story hotel, while another looked at creating multiple stories of storage units.
This puts us—as immediate neighbors—in a tenuous position. If we do not wish to have a 5-story box of a hotel across the street, nor multiple stories of storage units, which we do not, then we need to support the ZMA. If we would like to see housing built rather than commercial, then we need to support the ZMA. However, should the City Commission approve the ZMA change to B-2M, all of the uses and intensity allowed in that zone would be available to a future owner, which would be the case if Outlaw Partners were to either sell the property or for some reason not follow through on the vision they presented to us and to the neighborhood. So it is with reservations that we support the ZMA because we support residential over commercial re-development of the property. That said, we fear the worst-case-scenario, which would be the property being re-developed as a box of a building that maximizes the intensity allowed in B-2M zoning and provides “luxury units” rather than more affordable housing. The neighborhood learned a hard lesson with the Lehrkind Brewery wall: that developers don’t always follow through on a vision presented to the neighborhood. We sincerely hope history does not repeat itself in this instance. With our best, Amy Kelley Hoitsma and Todd Hoitsma