HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-23-23 Public Comment - A. Breuer - FW_ community development project #22375 (North Third Apartments) with staff responseFrom:Lynn Hyde
To:Agenda
Subject:FW: community development project #22375 (North Third Apartments)
Date:Tuesday, May 23, 2023 11:31:12 AM
Lynn Hyde | Development Review Planner, Community DevelopmentCity of Bozeman | 20 East Olive St. | P.O. Box 1230 | Bozeman, MT 59771406.579.1471 | lhyde@bozeman.net | www.bozeman.net
From: Abigail Breuer <abigailbreuer@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 9:35 AM
To: Lynn Hyde <lhyde@BOZEMAN.NET>
Subject: community development project #22375 (North Third Apartments)
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Dear Ms. Hyde,
I wish to echo architect Ben Lloyd's comments about the North Third
apartments, as reported in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (May 16, 2023): “The
site plan…you look at it and it’s all building and paving with little very relief to that,
and I find that troubling.”
I believe that residents of affordable housing, especially the families this
complex is supposed to serve, deserve to live with dignity. My neighborhood
has several apartment complexes (including one bordered by an extensive
parking lot) yet there is also greenspace for residential use and to temper the
impact of the density of the buildings themselves. As a mother of two, it is no
small matter to have a place for a baby to crawl on grass or young kids to play
in close proximity; Westlake Park is not a substitute until children can play
independently without supervision and cross a wide street. While I understand
a 20% open space relaxation is allowed through the deep incentives of the
affordable housing code, its use for the North Third building fails the test set by
Bozeman Mayor Cindy Andrus regarding another potential provision of the
same code (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Aug 24, 2022): "'You shouldn’t be able to
drive through our community and say that’s an affordable housing building or unit or
area because it looks different from another area in our community,'” said Mayor
Cyndy Andrus.
Further, it seems this complex has at least 2 buildings too many for the space
and I am curious why no setback beyond 10' is necessary between the existing
condos that share the same site to the south and the proposed apartments. As I
live across from unscreened parking lots on the BHS property (from which I
have been requesting relief from the School District since 2013), I am also
highly aware of the indignity of vehicle lights and regular disturbance (from
lack of a proper setback at the North 11th Entrance along with violation of
basic safety norms) coming into one's home at unexpected moments. While the
comings and goings of neighbors are part of living in any shared space, we
have ample knowledge of how to do so that respects privacy in a manner the
present the site plan does not provide.
Bozeman has examples of new infill, including affordable housing (e.g.
Arrowleaf Park and Perennial Park, and 20% of the coming 9TEN condos) that
are a better fit for their surroundings, allowing residents and the greater
community a sense of security and well-being that the North Third apartments
do not. As presently imagined, this complex is a poor precedent to set for what
affordable housing should be.
Coincidentally, I read this article today on how Vienna has successfully made
rental housing affordable and secure for a wide part of its society; nearly 80%
of residents qualify- Imagine a Renter's Utopia: It Might Look Like Vienna
(https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/magazine/vienna-social-housing.html).
Thank you,
Abigail Breuer
502 North 11th Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59715