HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-20-22 Public Comment - J. Triantis - County Rest Home DevelopmentFrom:Jason Triantis
To:Lynn Hyde; Agenda; Susan; tmenuez@thehrdc.org
Subject:County Rest Home Development
Date:Tuesday, December 20, 2022 8:24:48 PM
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I attended the 12/16/22 meeting during which the county and city discussed the informal
application responses for the Gallatin County Rest Home land development. I live in the OakPark Meadows subdivision at 1082 Oak Park Dr. and have provided previous feedback and
concern regarding this development. I appreciate the continued opportunity to providefeedback and the fact the county and city continue to uphold their previous commitment to
hear the concerns of the neighbors. I am also a member of the HOA for Oak Meadows andthis development was a major topic during our recent annual HOA meeting.
Understanding it is "very preliminary" we provided the proposed plan and comments Susan
Riggs shared with a few of us to the rest of the homeowners in the neighborhood. Ofparticular interest to most everyone was the information provided in the Civil Site Plan and
Graphic Site Plan. Each of the concerns listed below are those which were brought up andalso those which I also have concerns about and ask that the city and county keep these in
mind as they continue to move forward with their plans, regardless of what those plans end uplooking like.
Of primary concern is the traffic and safety issues the lack of access to/from Durstonwhich will cause as the committee members in the informal review meeting
acknowledged themselves the primary access will be from Juniper.Juniper is a narrow street, regardless of it being within code and already is very
tight when two cars are driving past each other in the best conditions. Add to thatparked cars and only one car can drive past at a time...this issue is exacerbated in
winter as the piling of snow narrows the street even more.Oak Meadows Park, which the city and county have already stated would be used
by the residents of the development as well, would only be able to be accessed bycrossing Juniper which means children, parents, pets, etc. will be forced to cross a
narrow and very busy street.The southeast corner of Juniper and 15th is already a very difficult corner to
navigate due to the fact it not only has a bulb out, but is also roughly a 120 degreeangle which makes entering and exiting 15th very tricky, if not outright dangerous
as often parked cars (both on Juniper and 15th) obscure oncoming traffic andcause additional obstacles and safety concerns. The additional traffic coming to
Juniper will cause an increase in these issues. The safety concerns the additional heavy traffic will bring are only increased by the
proposed parking indicated on the site plan.Per the plan, there is an "allocation" of six parking spaces on Juniper (see
previous comment of traffic/safety concern of this).Furthermore, the proposed Oak Park Drive extension, which the committee
members stated would be the primary access to the development, is shown to benarrower than any of the existing roads and is indicated to provide 19 parking
spaces. This seems like very poor planning and ultimately it is unrealistic as itwon't provide two way traffic and parking on such a narrow street...the issues on
Juniper already proves this. Moreover, Oak Park Drive is shown to be the only actual street in the
development and the other "street" is going to be considered an alley(though apparently this is enough to satisfy the requirements of two points
of entrance/egress). Given this fact, most, if not all service people,delivery, visitors, etc. will come into the development through Oak Park
Drive which, again, will be inadequately narrow even if parking wasn'tallowed on it.
Even assuming each housing unit only has two cars, there would be 173 cars (82units with two cars each plus 9 nurses apartments with one car each) . Your plan
does indicate 175 spaces, but this includes the day care and the above mentionedparking spots on Juniper and Oak Park Drive which are not realistic.
Realistically, it's a huge assumption to say each unit would only have two cars sothe math simply does not work and therefore parking will overflow into the
adjacent neighborhood further increasing the safety issues on the streets,becoming another development with inadequate parking.
It appears clear the city and committee have ruled out Durston access, which wouldlargely eliminate the traffic concerns on Juniper.
It is unfortunate that the lack of prior planning is going to cause a traffic safetyissue now for these new residents and those of us in the surrounding
neighborhoods. I've heard and read that the city is banking on eventuallywidening Oak Park Drive through the new development as well as extending
Aspen and even Juniper through to 7th. The problem here is there is no timelinefor this and really no guarantee the city will ever have that access as it depends
solely on the owner of the unannexed land to the east of the development to"someday" sell the land, or allow easements through it. We all know this is very
unlikely to happen anytime soon...if at all. The city should not be planninginfrastructure on hope and assumptions.
Ultimately, direct access to/from Durston is the only way to address the safetyconcerns (parking would remain an issue) but since the city is no longer
considering this an option, which is very unfortunate, it is vital the city tocontinue to look at valid, current ways to help ensure those of us already in the
neighborhood and those who may move into the new development are safe andtraffic flow and patterns realistically addressed and considered.
I appreciate the opportunity to remain engaged in this development and the information thecity and county have shared so far. Clearly my neighbors and I all have vested interests in the
progress of the development as it affects all of us...current and future. On behalf of my familyand my neighbors I ask that you continue to hear us and truly take our comments and concerns
to heart, afterall community input is the key to good government and planning.
Thank you,Jason Triantis
1082 Oak Park Drive