HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-05-23 Public Comment - A. Larsen - Baxter 80, application 23208 protestFrom:Andrew Larsen
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Baxter 80, application 23208 protest
Date:Saturday, February 3, 2024 10:21:25 AM
Attachments:Baxter 80, appliction 23208 protest letter.rtf
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Dear Sir or Madam,Please find the attached protest letter of application 23208. As an adjacent landowner to this
proposed annexation and development. We have serious concerns with the R4/R5 beingproposed on this land.
Respectfully,Andrew Larsen
Andrew & Sara Larsen 1235 Saxon Way Bozeman, MT 59718
ATTN: Tom Rogers
RE: Baxter 80 Annexation and Zone Map Amendment – Application 23208 by the Community Dear Community Development Board,
I oppose the zoning designation of R4 – High Density and R5 – High Density Mixed Use for the following compelling reasons:
• The Bozeman 2020 Community Plan asserts that “the needs of new and existing development coexist and they should remain in balance, neither should overwhelm the other (Bozeman 2020 Community Plan, p. 20)
• Although we have pockets of R4 high density in our neighborhoods, the apartment complexes are smaller and limited to two stories with setbacks that blend in well with
more medium to moderate zoned areas.
• An abrupt transition to R-4 (Residential High Density) and R-5 (Residential High-Density - Mixed) would threaten to overwhelm our more medium to moderate density neighborhood areas and would create an imbalance between the two-story
character of our residences and the potential three to four story dwellings with out of place commercial businesses mixed in.
• We bought our homes knowing there would be no commercial businesses nearby in well-established residential neighborhoods. Businesses do not always make the best
neighbors and there are valid and legitimate reasons for separating them from
residential areas. Today’s coffee shop can become tomorrow’s pawn shop.
• According to the Bozeman 2020 Community Plan under the City Responsibility
section, it states that: “the City’s primary function is to provide a safe, healthy, and
high-quality environment….. The way a community is shaped through………green spaces can contribute to the well-being of residents” (Bozeman 2020 Community Plan, p. 21).
• The property contains significant wetlands that spread out from Baxter, Ajacker, and
McDonald Creeks and should be protected to support our well-being with green space
in the form of parks along the wetlands for current and future residents to enjoy.
• The R4 and R5 designations could negatively impact the wetlands and shrink the opportunity to establish parks along them.
• If a high-density development is added there without parks and protection of the wetlands, many of those residents will seek out our parks and green spaces that we pay to maintain.
Thank you for taking the time to carefully consider these compelling reasons for rejecting this zoning proposal and the potential for it to adversely impact our well-established residential
neighborhoods.
Sincerely, Andrew & Sara Larsen