HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-12-23 Public Comment - M. Spogis - Public Comment UDC_RB designation.From:MaryEllen Spogis
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment UDC/RB designation.
Date:Wednesday, October 11, 2023 1:11:49 PM
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Dear Bozeman Board Members, Council Members and the City Commission,
This is regarding UDC Ordinance 2151 and is for the Community DevelopmentBoard, the Inter-Neighborhood Council, and the City Commission, with focus on
the neighborhoods north of Peach Av.
The neighborhoods north of Peach Street & west of Rouse Av will be designatedRB (up to four stories/24 units), currently with most homes designated as R4, with
the proposed UBC. There is great concern and opposition that R4 is proposed to
become RB in this unique area. Here is why. With the lovely established Centennial
Park, North Grand Ball fields and Senior Center, and now with the not lovelymultiple storied buildings already built and currently being built, approved to bebuilt, think 'The Henry' 4 and its 4 block high-rises, and the 200 plus N. 3rd
Apartments, the additional 'building power' of RB is extremely aggressive for this
core area of Bozeman. It has already seen massive development. The currentinfrastructure is in need of upkeep even without new building, and indeed, poorlyinadequate to support the approved constructions, with the meager, minimal
requirements for the builders. Centennial/Senior Center, with children, the elderly,
dogs, sport teams etc., & enforcement of the 15 mph of 3 sides of the Park, will all
already suffer with completion of the approved 4 block high-rises and the 200 plusapartments that are to be smack against the community gardens and BMX park.
(Easements were approved for this.) We have had our fill, ('fill-ins') of large,
horizon blocking, imposing building complexes. Maximum capacity has been
achieved even with the current R4 in most of this area. Anymore multi-unitbuildings would approach absurdity, and be seen as pronounce lack of insight and
reality.
On the 600 block of N Tracy exists a home that has the lovely destination of beingone of 4 oldest homes in Bozeman. The upkeep, remodeling our neighbor has
executed is exceedingly commendable. Our home was built in 1898,
with expansive remodels as well, In between these homes stands another
remodeled home that was once a grocer for the neighborhood. It is paramount wecontinue as R4, NOT RB, to preserve what little single family homes still exist!
The tear downs of these first, historical homes began north of Mendenhall Street,
with what once was the Bozeman's hospital, (thankfully it WAS a beautify
structure), and a Kenyon Noble store, now The Element. 95% of single family
homes have now been torn down from Mendenhall north to Villard. Moreover thisneighborhood is already bound by the County Fairgrounds, the Safety Center and
the high-rise structures noted about. Please, we implore retaining the current &
ample allowances of a R4 designation. Our neighborhood in particular has suffered
enough. Allowing RB would basically wipe out any semblance of a neighborhoodand its greenery.
Additionally, this neighborhood has historically been underrepresented compared to
the College District, for example. I ask, how many letters and boxes checked haveyour received regarding opposition to changing R4 to RB in this core part ofBozeman!? Two, when I last checked. There is significantly less push back,
resulting in our neighborhood commonly being coined as the 'Sacrificial
Neighborhood'. Already the construction fatigue is quite pronounce and
prominent. We now wake every morning to continuous beeps of constructionvehicles backing up, until 5 pm. The huge 4 block development on N Tracy/N
Willson/Villard/Beall is far from completion, and with the 1 parking place per
apartment, of the over 200 N 3rd Apartments yet to break ground...
Beep, beep.
Sincerely,
Mary Ellen M. Spogis
613 North Tracy Av.
Bzn, MT 59715