HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-21-26 Public Comment - D. Carty - City Commission, 3-24-26_ Request to move Consent H.1 to Action AgendaFrom:Daniel Carty
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Joey Morrison; Douglas Fischer; Jennifer Madgic; Alison Sweeney; Emma Bode; Chuck Winn
Subject:[EXTERNAL]City Commission, 3-24-26: Request to move Consent H.1 to Action Agenda
Date:Saturday, March 21, 2026 4:20:52 PM
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(Please place this comment in the CY 2026, Application 25360, L Street
Annexation/Zoning folder.)
March 21, 2026; 4:20 p.m.
To: Bozeman City Commission
(1) I am wrting as an individual Bozeman resident to ask the Commission to:
(a) Move Consent II - Item H.1 to the Action Item Agenda and(b) Vote down the proposed "Ordinance, Provisional Adoption, Establishing a Zoning
Designation of R-B Residential Mixed Use Low-Medium...in Association with theAnnexation of 17.92 Acres, the L Street Annexation, Application 25360."
(2) My reasons for making these two requests are that R-A zoning would be more
appropriate for this 17.92-acre parcel (as follows):
(a) This parcel is located on the edge of the City in an urban-wildland/wildlifeinterface, and this parcel is surrounded entirely by either low-density or no-density
development—such as county suburban/ag land, City parkland, and one or twoisolated and undeveloped small R-3 (R-B) parcels. R-A zoning for the L Street parcel
would be more in keeping with low human density-high wildilife density that exists thearea.
(b) Higher density zoning makes property "more valuable," and thus this parcel is likely tobe built out at the highest density allowed under R-B zoning. Maximum build-out will
maximize private-developer profit while externalizing social costs such as increased trafficproblems, endangering the public safety (lots of runners and cyclists on the L
Street/Story Mill Road), and endangering wildlife. An R-A build-out would still externalizesocial costs, but those costs would be less than a maximum build-out under R-B.
(c) L Sreet/Story Mill Road is the only motor vehicle road that allows access to the LStreet parcel, and this road inlcudes a narrow bridge (2-car width) adjacent to the L-
Street parcel itself. Such limited access is concerning with repesct to any newdevlelopment in the area, but R-A zoning would cause fewer problems than R-B
zoning with re to emergency-vehicle access and response times in case ofemergecies such as human health, fire, flood, motor vehicle traffic accidents, motor
vehicle-pedestrian/cyclist collisions, and motor vehicle-wildlife collisions—to name afew.
(d) R-B zoning of the L Street parcel will exacerbate existing traffic problems at the
railroad crossing on N. Wallace Ave. Transportation studies vary, but a quick google
search revealed a study by the National Dept of Energy estimating approximately 5
one-way trips per day per household in 2017. Even something more moderate such
as 4 one-way trips (2 round trips) per day per household with 100 households wouldput an extra 400 extra one-way trips per day on L Street/Story Mill Rd.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1041-august-6-2018-households-take-fewer-vehicle-trips-2017
(e) The L Street parcel is important habitat for birds and small mammals, for which
the City is a steward under Bozeman Community Plan 2020. The parcel containsnative cottonwood trees and aspen trees, hawk and songbird nesting areas, and
snags (dying and dead trees) for cavity nesters such as owls, woodpeckers, andmany songbirds. Moreover, the parcel is a stream and wildlife corridor, groundwater
and stream recharge area, and is a potential corridor for flood mitigation. Cottonwoodriparian areas and mini-forests are one of our few native, self-regenerating forests in
the City, and such forests are in declinehttps://www.yellowstonearboretum.org/plains-cottonwood. Likely, R-A zoning would
protect more native trees and wildlife habitat than would R-B zoning.
(f) In the previous public hearing for the L Street ZMA, we learned that some of theland has underlying soil contamination that is best left undisturbed. R-A zoning could
lead to less soil disturbance than R-B zoning, and thus RA zoning would also lead toless airborne and groundwater pollutants being released during construction.
(g) A vote against R-B zoning may bring a future proposal for R-A or even PLI, which
would be much more suited to this location, given all the reasons listed above.
Thank you again for considering to move Consent II - Item H.1 to the Action Item Agenda
and to vote down the proposed "Ordinance, Provisional Adoption, Establishing a ZoningDesignation of R-B Residential Mixed Use Low-Medium...in Association with the
Annexation of 17.92 Acres, the L Street Annexation, Application 25360."
Sincerely,
Daniel Carty
213 N. 3rd Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715