HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-12-23 Public Comment - M. Casto - Canyon Gate- #22-264 and CDBFrom:Molly Casto
To:Agenda
Subject:Canyon Gate- #22-264 and CDB
Date:Sunday, March 12, 2023 3:06:18 PM
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To Staff and members of the Community Development Board and Planning Board —
I am reaching out in regards to the Canyon Gate Preliminary Subdivision proposal currently
under review by the Community Development Board and the Planning Board.
I am primarily concerned, both as a resident adjacent to the development and as a professionalurban planner, about the following:
1. Stormwater and drainage.
2. Parks and open space.3. Traffic and circulation.
4. Public noticing requirements
(1) Stormwater and Drainage: The staff report acknowledges that the 1982 FEMA maps are outdated and will be updated in
2 years. Additionally, the report acknowledges that the Flood Hazard Evaluations used by theapplicant to design the proposed stormwater management and drainage plan was not to FEMA
standards. To address this, City staff recommends that the final plat include a "Condition ofApproval" notifying future property owners about these shortfalls. Although it potentially
alerts new homeowners of the issue, assuming they obtain, review, and understand that fineprint, it does nothing to prevent likely flooding from a large-scale, highly impervious
development engineered according to outdated, unreliable data. This is irresponsible planning,simply kicking the problem forward versus addressing it now. I also note the City provision
that sump pumps cannot connect to the sewer, the drainage system or discharge into streets.Thus, future homeowners who experience flooding issues in a development linked to City
services may be unable to mitigate the problem effectively.
The site is a known larger floodplain area associated with Bridger Creek, and the scale ofdevelopment and percentage of proposed impervious coverage for Canyon Gate thus
significantly increases flood hazard to the Legends subdivision next door. The Legendsstormwater plan, reviewed and approved by the City, accommodates expected creek overflows
through swales and culverts that direct to the retention pond adjacent to the Canyon Gateparcel. If that retention pond fills, which it does periodically, it is engineered to overflow onto
the Canyon Gate parcel -- which was the historic flow path for creek overflows. If CanyonGate raises the elevation, as proposed, the Legend's retention pond will have nowhere to
overflow, thus posing a significant risk of flooding adjacent home sites.
(2) Parks and Open Space: Canyon Gate must provide adequate open space, trails and connectivity in suitable areas. The
Canyon Gate Parks Master Plan emphasizes a "10' wide Class I trail connecting the existingtrails along Bridger Canyon Drive to the Legends at Bridger Creek Trail network". This trail,
as designed, ends abruptly and funnels users straight onto an embankment into the
abovementioned retention pond and private property. It does not link into the Legends atBridger Creek Trail network. The developer should redesign the linear park and trail to link
out to Boylan Road or a connection to the south at Northview/Proposed Canyon Gate Blvd toroute users to the public sidewalk system, which connects safely to public trails at either of
these locations.
(3) Traffic and Circulation: The City should require that the developer pursue a connection at Northview/Canyon Gateway
Blvd for this development. The applicant has yet to attempt to contact the Legendsneighborhood in pursuit of an easement to connect at this location. The City has identified this
location as a desired street connection. Instead, the applicant proposes avoiding a necessaryeasement at Northview by routing traffic deeper into a single-family residential neighborhood
onto Maiden Spirit Street. Although just 600 feet long, Maiden Spirit Street is a low trafficvolume, high pedestrian and bike volume local street. It is currently home to 16 children under
the age of 12. To bypass a sensible and available connection at Northview, instead routing alltraffic entering and exiting from the northeast side of the site deep into a residential
neighborhood, is poor planning practice. The City should require the applicant tocommunicate with the Legends HOA and make every effort to negotiate an appropriate
ingress/egress to the development at Northview.
Public Noticing: I received a mailed notice for this development, but the print was overlapped on one side,
making it impossible to read the zoning for the site. I likewise struggled to orient myself to theplan printed on the notice, only to discover it was printed backward, making it impossible to
read. This prompted me to look at the posted placards around the site, and the map was alsobackward on those. This notice does not meet City requirements for proper notification of the
public. This is poor planning practice and erodes public trust, especially for a project that hasgarnered so much public concern. The meeting should be postponed and re-noticed correctly.
I look forward to staff and the reviewing authority comprehensively addressing these issues.
Best,
Molly Casto
1451 Maiden Spirit Street, Bozeman