HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-04-25 Public Comment - A. Hoitsma - Application 24606From:Amy Kelley Hoitsma
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Application 24606
Date:Monday, March 3, 2025 4:33:36 PM
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I would like to express my opposition to removing all of the public trees on a one-block section of WestLamme as part of a Home Base development modification to its already approved North Central MasterSite Plan (Application 21029).
By changing the approved block frontage from mixed-landscaped to mixed-storefront, the developerwould no longer be required to have building set-backs and thus no boulevard and no space for existingtrees. Instead, there would be a 12-foot sidewalk with “tree pits.” The original plan indicated these publictree assets would be saved when this site was redeveloped.
Allowing the demolition of these public trees contradicts several plan review criteria listed in BozemanMunicipal Code (BMC) Section 38.230.100—criteria that “the review authority and advisory bodiesmust consider.” These include:
1. Conformance to and consistency with the City’s adopted growth policy. Cutting down mature trees is in direct conflict with the City’s climate goal to reduce carbon into theatmosphere. Our City is supposed to integrate climate change considerations into development standards.
and
6. Conformance with the community design provisions of article 4, including: Community designand element provisions (division 38.410).Sec. 38.410.010 (B) states: “The design and development of all land uses must be properly related totopography, and must, to the extent possible, preserve the natural terrain, natural drainage, existingtopsoil, trees and other existing vegetation.”
and
7. Conformance with the project design provisions of article 5, including: (a) Compatibility with, andsensitivity to, the immediate environment of the site and the adjacent neighborhoods and other approveddevelopment relative to architectural design, building mass, neighborhood identity, landscaping,historical character, orientation of buildings on the site and visual integration.
According to the application document attached above (“L000 Tree Preservation Plan”), the modificationwill remove at least 13 mature trees. These have provided Bozeman residents with beauty, shade, birds,and other important amenities. They also sequester carbon, which is a critical function given the climatecrisis.
I believe the City has grounds to deny this modification, or at least the request to remove the maturepublic trees on W. Lamme.
Thank you.
Amy Kelley Hoitsma706 E. Peach St., Bozeman