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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-12-23 Public Comment - K. McDowell - Shady Glen DevelopmentFrom:Kate McDowell To:Agenda Subject:Shady Glen Development Date:Sunday, March 12, 2023 11:08:57 PM Attachments:Dear City Commissioners.docx Dear City Commissioners, Once again, I am forced to write to the city commissioners concerning the development of Bridger Meadows renamed as Shady Glen. After reading through the documents on this development, I’ve concluded that nothing of significance has changed. It’s the same piece of property bought by Tom Murphy knowing he had NO access to this property for development and yet he is hoping to develop it. There were several reasons the commission voted the development down. Foremost is access. The Shady Glen residents will have to access their homes by way of Birdie Drive (Private) road. Individual homeowners of The Links never gave their consent to allow access to Mr. Murphy’s property. Having NO legal access, how is this development going to be built and how are the homeowners going to get to their homes? The safety and the health of The Links residents will be compromised by adding daily traffic and noise past their townhouses. As a commission you need to protect current residents and their homes. Mr. Murphy’s plan calls for emergency vehicles to use Birdie Drive (Private) or Commercial Drive Road which will be gated. With this year’s unprecedent snowfall, the question to ask is who will be responsible for clearing snow so that emergency vehicles can get to the proposed gate off Commercial Drive to access Shady Glen homes. Let’s remember how quickly the Bridger Mountain fire climbed up the hill side and over the ridge taking sixty buildings which were spread out not built on12 acres. A fire in a home in Shady Glen would certainly jeopardize the Village Green Townhouses, The Links, and Bridger Creek Condos and possibly homes on Boylan Road. Commissioners, are you protecting the health and safety of your established residents? This land is a wetland and is in a floodplain. Changes made to this property in adding infrastructure and houses will only exacerbate the flooding issues which are already being experienced by the homeowners of the Village Green Townhouses. No French drain is going to take care of this situation and depending on the amount of snowfall and/or rainfall it can and will cause these homeowners more crawl space flooding. Mr. Murphy is now establishing The Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge on this property. He states it will provide for viewing by people and educational opportunities through proposed signage. Again, you are impacting the habitat and refuge of the wildlife through traffic, humans, barking dogs, children playing and screaming in fun. I quote from the document #023 Wildlife Habitat Narrative: “Needless to say, wildlife habitat on this property and lands surrounding the property has been severely impacted by human activity over the past 100 years.” The narrative continues naming owls, hawks, sandhill cranes, waterfowl, and songbirds, fur bearing and large carnivorous mammals siting white tail deer, mule deer and moose. A statement by FWP Bozeman wildlife biologist, Julie Cunningham states and I quote: “Wildlife conflicts have happened in this area of this proposed subdivision, including conflicts with black bear, moose, and mountain lions. Please note building homes near an area where wildlife frequent can result in conflicts.” A concern of mine is that this development will cause an already hazardous intersection at Bridger Canyon Road and Birdie Drive to become more dangerous. There is parking on both sides of Birdie Drive (Foothills Veterinary Hospital and Staley Engineering) comprise upwards of 18 to 20 vehicles. Add into this mix winter when the roadway becomes a one lane ice embedded street. Let’s not forget the location of the Bridger Ski Foundation at the front of Birdie Drive. If you have never witnessed the goings on of excited skiers getting out of parents’ cars, unloading gear into the middle of the street, running back and forth to greet other skiers then you have NO idea of the possibility of an accident waiting to happen. I have suggested that the Ski Foundation meet their skiers and park at Story Mill Park where there are 80 parking spaces. I talked to deaf ears on this subject. Let’s be pro-active in putting the safely of these individuals foremost not wait until there is an accident. Nothing has changed except the name of this proposed development. Mr. Murphy has tried to present to the commission a “rock” that he has now painted with “gold paint and glitter”. It’s the same rock – certainly common sense will tell you that when you vote. You voted the development down because of safety and the fact that there is only one access. I ask that you voted it down again.