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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-04-25 Public Comment - Friends of Fowler Connection - FFC Public Comment on the Fowler Ave and Cattail Creek ProjectsFrom:FFC To:Bozeman Public Comment; Terry Cunningham; Joey Morrison; Jennifer Madgic; Douglas Fischer; Emma Bode;Nicholas Ross; Addi Jadin; Emily Kiely; Mitchell Overton Subject:[EXTERNAL]FFC Public Comment on the Fowler Ave and Cattail Creek Projects Date:Monday, March 3, 2025 12:15:33 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Please post in public comment record for Fowler Avenue Connection and Cattail Creek Corridor. Please also distribute to the City Staff involved in the City Climate Plan, Branch Out Bozeman, and the City Forestry Division. Honorable City Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Commissioners, Director of Transportation and Engineering, Park Planning and Development Manager, and Community Engagement Coordinator: Members of Friends of Fowler Connector (FFC) attended a Valley Unit Neighborhood Association (VUNA) meeting on February 13, 202. The newly revitalized VUNA, which had been inactive for several years, was fortunate to have a presentation by Nick Ross on the Fowler Avenue Connection (FAC) project and a presentation by Addi Jadin on the Cattail Creek Corridor project. The FFC is very grateful for both Nick and Addi’s presentations, both of which show a continued commitment to public engagement. FOWLER AVENUE CONNECTION (FAC) Nick Ross presented a preliminary look at the 60% design of the FAC. Meeting attendees learned that the 60% phase design will be the public’s last opportunity to recommend changes. For this reason, FFC recommends that the consultant’s 60% design package show sufficient detail to convey the proposed development and how trees, tree root zones, neighborhoods, and residences will be affected: Show plans at 1” = 20’ scale for the entire length of the project Show grading plans and limits of disturbance, including how storm water management is handled Show grading limit lines and edges of project disturbance on the plans Many members of the community are not familiar with reading plan drawings. This is a proposed road that will lessen the traffic from the congested 19th Avenue and divert it through 1.5 miles of existing neighborhoods. It is important that community members understand how this will impact 1.5 miles of existing neighborhoods. Director Ross did the community a great service by setting survey stakes to show the width of the proposed development while he also led us on a community Walking Tour last summer. The FFC recommends the City continue this type of information-sharing with the community and do the following: Lead another FAC Walking Tour as part of the community engagement plan at this 60% design stage, where there will be better details: Set survey stakes to show the road width, boulevards, and shared use paths on both sides, especially where the FAC is close to the riparian corridor and to residences. The survey stakes should show the limits of disturbance that include grading for storm water management. Identify trees proposed to be cut down with ribbon tape or tree-marking paint to allow the public to visualize the proposed tree loss. Using graphics, illustrate how all pedestrian crossings will be handled throughout the FAC, keeping in mind that school kids will be using these shared-use paths and will need to navigate rush-hour traffic at and near traffic circles. Show section and section-elevation drawings that illustrate actual proposed conditions at critical areas such as where the development gets close to existing housing. Long Term Tree Loss FFC continues to strongly recommend that the FAC design team preserve/protect the continuous 1.5 mile forested riparian corridor. This corridor is important to vulnerable migratory birds and offers pockets of refuge for displaced wildlife due to the development of surrounding land. The open water source and mature tree canopy have been here for over 120 years, faithfully doing their part to cool our ever-warming valley. Lessening the development footprint is the first step to meeting this goal and FFC is encouraged to see that the 60% design shows the centerline medians were removed from road sections and that in-road bike paths were relocated to the shared-use paths. FFC continues to strongly recommend the following: Incorporate ecology professionals early in the design process and through project construction. Last summer, FFC was heartened to learn that the City’s Transportation Department was exploring a collaboration with MSU’s Western Transportation Institute Road Ecology Department on this project. This is a step in the right direction to becoming better stewards of the natural resources we still have in and around Bozeman. What is the status of this partnership? The City's Climate Plan goals and Branch Out Bozeman (BOB)’s tree canopy expansion project will both need metrics to make the loss of trees real and provide quantitative data for the City to feed into a data base that would inform the City's long-term Climate Plan goals. Additionally, wildlife habitat loss will be substantial, especially for birds. Their wildlife disturbance will occur due to increased motorized activity. For these reasons, FFC strongly recommends the ecology professionals (as described in the above comment) do the following: survey and document the metrics necessary to calculate the totality of the carbon storage and annual carbon sequestration that will be lost calculate the total tree canopy area (to the tree dripline) that will be lost calculate how many years it will take the "replacement trees" at different survival rates (e.g., 25%, 50%. 75%, and 100%) to achieve what the existing trees are achieving now with respect to carbon storage, carbon sequestration, and canopy cover. Link to the BOB initiative: Currently, the GIS team (part of BOB) is being coached by the Green Infrastructure Center on "how to map tree canopy and to analyze and collect data that can be used by the city for future decision-making.” Please integrate this project with the BOB initiative and review how costly it can get to plant trees for a mere 3% increase in canopy cover. Planting trees is great. Keeping trees standing is even better. In the paraphrased words of BOB consultant “Trees are the only infrastructure that appreciate over time." CATTAIL CREEK CORRIDOR Addi Jadin’ s helpful presentation of the Cattail Creek Corridor showed some indications of where other area-trail-systems will connect with this project. FFC has consistently advocated that safe, accessible, and comfortable trail systems on the west side of town are important for the community and to attain the City’s climate and sustainability goals. For these reasons, FFC recommends the following: Provide an overview/context plan that shows how FAC and its shared-use paths fit within the context of other adjacent roads and trails, such as the Cattail Ck Corridor. Show where share-use paths cross roads and intersections and identify how these crossings will be made safe for school kids and other vulnerable pedestrians. Unlike the more continuous trails on the east side of Bozeman, these trails will have multiple road crossings on higher-volume roads. Show where access roads and pathways for the proposed affordable housing will dovetail with FAC. LINEAR PARK CONCEPT ALONG RIPARIAN CORRIDOR FFC applauds Nick Ross’s proposal that the area between the road edge and the centerline of the Section Line Irrigation Ditch be designated as a linear park for the northern-most third of the FAC project between Oak Street and Durston Street. FFC recommends this linear park be assigned to the entire 129-year old riparian corridor along the entire FAC between Oak and Huffine. The cottonwoods and the waterway that sustains them should be protected along the entire corridor to provide a continuous habitat for raptors and other birds, as well as other wildlife. It will also encourage more trail use along a shaded parkway. In fact, FFC recommends this kind of protection be built into other future portions of the FAC going south of Huffine. FFC is grateful for the continued communication and outreach by Director Ross and looks forward to the City’s formal launch of the 60% design drawings for the FAC and the more detailed public review. Respectfully, Friends of Fowler Connector Our goal is to work constructively with the City to make the FAC as neighborhood friendlyand environmentally responsible as possible.