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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-01-23 Public Comment - J. Andersen - RE_ Applications 22178 and 22205, West Park Subdivision - With Staff ResponseFrom:Nakeisha Lyon To:JANICE ANDERSEN Cc:Agenda; Tyler Steinway Subject:RE: Applications 22178 and 22205, West Park Subdivision Date:Wednesday, February 1, 2023 1:48:16 PM Attachments:West Park Devel Concerns.docx Thank you for your public comments, Janice. I have forwarded them to the applicant and will be including them in my staff reports for consideration by the Community Development Director and City Commission. Thank you, Nakeisha Lyon, AICP | Associate Planner | Community Development Pronouns: she, her, hers City of Bozeman | 20 East Olive St. | P.O. Box 1230 | Bozeman, MT 59771 P: 406.582.2963 | E: nlyon@bozeman.net | W: www.bozeman.net/planning The City has enhanced our project intake process and will now be receiving all project submittals - New and Revisions, through ProjectDox. As a result of this transition in process, response times to inquiries may be delayed. We understand the impacts any delay may create for your site development and we will make every effort to provide you with the highest level of customer service in a timely manner. We encourage you to review our Development Center webpage and become familiar with the new intake process. Your patience during this transition is greatly appreciated. -----Original Message----- From: JANICE ANDERSEN <janand1@msn.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 1:43 PM To: Nakeisha Lyon <nlyon@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Re: Applications 22178 and 22205, West Park Subdivision 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. Please see attached comments/concerns. West Park Phase 1 Site Plan Application 22205: • Connection of Vaughn Drive to Apartments Phase 1 includes 102 apartments and there will be a total of 4 phases with upwards of 500 units. Most likely, this will result in approximately 1000 vehicles. Vaughn Dr is a narrow, family-based residential road. There are a number of children ages 2 - 16 that live along the portion of Vaughn Dr that borders the proposed West Park. Often times children (and their friends) ride their bikes in the street, play baseball, use skateboards, and/or roller blade. Connecting Vaughn Dr with the apartments presents a major concern for the safety of our children due to the increase in both number of vehicles, potential for distracted drivers, and drivers not following the speed limit (I experienced these issues as well as traffic noise all hours of the night when apartments were built near the condominium complex where I previously lived). There is no designated bike path on Vaughn Dr to allow children to safely ride their bikes with the increase in traffic. Laurel Pkwy, by contrast, does not have any connecting driveways, it is very wide, and has a designated bike path. For the above reasons, the connection of Vaughn Dr to the apartments is a major concern. There is no apparent reason why the extension of Vaughn Drive is required for apartment access. A road parallel to Vaughn Dr exiting onto Laurel Pkwy is much more appropriate and safer for all. • Dog Park The creation of a small dog park for the apartment residents is a great idea. However, it needs to be relocated. Currently the dog park is parallel to the asphalt trail that leads into the open area where the gravel paths can be accessed. When a dog is in a fenced in area (i.e., the proposed dog park) and sees other dogs go by, the dog will typically bark. There is a constant stream of dogs/dog owners that use the path. The barking will cause a major disturbance for the residents on Vaughn Dr, Debour Dr and the apartment residents as well. It will be like living next to a large kennel. • Parking Lot A solid fence/wall needs to be constructed the entire width of the parking lot that faces Vaughn Dr to prevent headlights from potentially 200+ vehicles shining into our homes and invading our privacy. West Park Applications 22178 and 22205 Family Residential Community Impact Although The Lakes cannot prevent the growth of high-density residential areas, it is possible to reduce the impact of high density development on The Lakes family community. The majority of the new apartments in Bozeman are built along major streets and often in commercial areas rather than next to existing residential family communities. Two proposed changes would be appropriate and allow our community to retain its family focus: • Relocate the open space currently allotted along the intersection of Babcock and Laurel Pkwy to the area along Vaughn Dr where the West Park Phase 1 apartments are currently planned. • Application 22178 provides for a combination of townhomes and apartments in West Park. As stated above most apartment complexes are along main roads/commercial areas. As such, it would be more appropriate to build apartments along Babcock and townhomes where West Park Phase 1 apartments are currently planned. This would provide a much needed buffer between the apartments and The Lakes family community.