HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-03-23 Public Comment - D. Carty - Canyon Gate's Truman Flats building site planFrom:Daniel Carty
To:Susana Montana; Anna Bentley
Cc:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Canyon Gate"s Truman Flats building site plan
Date:Friday, November 3, 2023 10:07:01 AM
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Date: Nov 3, 2023; Time 10:15 AM
To: Susana Montana and Anna Bentley, City of Bozeman Planning Division
Subject: Suggested changes to Canyon Gate's Truman Flats building site plan
I am writing to ask the City of Bozeman Planning Division (City) to require HomeBasePartners (HomeBase) to make the following changes to Canyon Gate's Truman Flats
building site plan:
(1) 38.230.100. A.7.d. Landscaping, including the enhancement of buildings, theappearance of vehicular use, open space and pedestrian areas, and the preservation
or replacement of natural vegetation;
HomeBase plans to plant a total of 102 sapling trees (saplings) on the entire Canyon Gate
site—according to their preliminary plat presentation. However, on the Truman Flats
building site alone, HomeBase removed over 111 mature, native cottonwood trees, which
had provided a much larger canopy cover than 102 newly planted saplings will. Also, given
the low survival rate of newly planted saplings (e.g., approximately 50% in nearby Legends
City Park), the City should require HomeBase to (1) plant at least 150 saplings on the
Truman Flats site alone and (2) of these 150 saplings, the City should require that 75% be
MT native cottonwood trees to replace some of the MT native bird habitat lost when the
entire Canyon Gate site was bulldozed flat. Cottonwood trees are used with great
success as boulevard trees in other MT towns and cities, such as Choteau and Malta. In
addition, cottonwood trees grow quickly and will provide much-needed ecological function
and ecosystem services to the Truman Flats building site and Canyon Gate as whole—not
to mention contributing to the maintenance and/or enhancement of Bozeman's urban forest
as a whole (Footnote 1).
Also, the City should require HomeBase to remove all fruit trees from the Truman Flats
building site and from the entire Canyon Gate site in order to minimize potential black bear-
human conflict. Fruit trees should be replaced with MT native trees such as cottonwood
trees, aspen trees, and/or willow trees. (See Plan 110 L300 Tree Plan.) A cautionary note
re potential black bear-human conflict: the Truman Flats building site sits in the middle of an
active black bear corridor, and the Truman Flats trash facilities appear to have open sides
large enough for black bear to enter. As such, these trash facilities need to be fully
enclosed and have bear-proof doors and covers. Remember that a "fed bear" usually ends
up as a "dead bear."
Footnote 1:
Bozeman's Urban Forest can be thought of as the totality of all trees and shrubs that exist
within Bozeman city limits, i.e., all trees and shrubs within city limits that exist on public
property plus all those that exist on private property. These trees and shrubs include all
natives and nonnatives; all young and old; and all living, dying, and dead.
Ecological Function can be thought of as the natural physical, chemical, and biological
processes that occur within any given ecosystem.
Ecosystem Services can be thought of as any positive benefits that natural ecosystems
provide to people. For example, as characterized by the National Wildlife Federation,
ecosystem services can be Provisioning (e.g., food), Regulating (e.g., carbon sequestration
and storage—think Bozeman Climate Plan 2020), Cultural (e.g., shade and outdoor
recreation—think green open space and City parkland), and Supporting (e.g., nutrient and
water cycling—think land stewardship).
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Understanding-
Conservation/Ecosystem-Services
(2) 38.230.100.A.8. Conformance with environmental and open space objectives setforth in articles 4-6, including:
a. the enhancement of the natural environment (e.g., through low impact
development stormwater features or removal of inappropriate fill material);
b. Watercourse and wetland protections and associated wildlife habitats; and
c. if the development is adjacent to an existing or approved public park or publicopen space area, have provisions been made in the plan to avoid interfering with
public access to and use of that area.
Unfortunately, criteria A.8.a and A.8.b cannot be met because Design
Standard 38.410.010. B. was not applied during the Preliminary Plat process. Had it been
applied, low-impact stormwater features would be possible, as well as protection of habitat
because the habitat and stormwater features were in the same location.
However, criteria, A.8.c. can be applied to an ongoing existing problem with the
Truman Flats/Canyon Gate Park Plan (as follows): Require the addition of a 3-foot native
grass buffer to east edge sidewalk along Block 3 Lot 1. This sidewalk will be plowed in the
winter, and HomeBase has not left enough room for snow removal and storage. All
sidewalks in this neighborhood have an allowance of a few feet on either side of a sidewalk
to accommodate snow. Certainly, there is an enforceable City code about property-line
encroachment. If this encroachment is allowed to proceed, it will very likely damage the
integrity of the Legends II engineered retention pond. Fixing this seemingly small detail will
go a long way towards avoiding a likely problem while helping to build a more
positive relationship between neighbors. If the design is not improved, it may create the
necessity for Legends II to fence its property in this location to protect its storm-water
retention area. (See Plan 023 Park Master Plan) The lack of snow storage along this
sidewalk also shows a lack of consideration for the Legends II neighborhood storm-water
retention pond and, therefore, is also not compatible with 38.230.100 A.7.a.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment and make suggestions.
Daniel Carty
213 N. Third Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59715
dgc12@hotmail.com406-548-2810