HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-04-26 Public Comment - E. Allison - Hanson Lane App 25775 Annexation and Zoning From: Erin Allison
To: Bozeman Public Comment
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Hanson Lane App 25775 Annexation and Zoning
Date: Monday,May 4,2026 10:28:46 AM
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I am writing to ask the City Commission to deny or at minimum delay Application 25775 the proposed R-B zoning for the Hanson Lane parcel along the Fowler corridor. I've lived
on Rose Street since May 2021, and I know this neighborhood well. R-B zoning allows
buildings up to five stories and 45 feet tall, and there is nothing in the surrounding area
that comes close to that scale. The homes along Cottage Park Lane are single-family. The
duplexes on the north side of Annie Street are one story. The dominant pattern here is six
units per acre or less, which is exactly what R-A zoning is designed for. Bozeman
Community Plan Goal N.1.11 calls for gradual and predictable density in developed areas
over time. R-B next to built-out R-1 and R-2 blocks is not gradual. It's a jump, and once it's
approved here, it sets the baseline for every parcel along Fowler between Durston and
Oak. That is the precedent I'm most worried about— not just this one parcel, but what
follows. I also want to raise Annie Street. When the Fowler Connector goes in and Annie
becomes a through street, cars will have an unobstructed run toward Emily Dickinson
Elementary. Children walk that route every school day. No annexation should move
forward without confirmed speed limits and installed traffic calming in place before
construction begins. More than 90 public comments were submitted before the April 20
Community Development Board hearing, and the board recommended approval anyway.
That tells me the process needs more time and more voices. I'd ask the Commission to
extend the public comment period and to bring this parcel into the same consensus-based
engagement process the City committed to for the Fowler Housing Development in
January 2026. Deputy Mayor Fischer and City Manager Winn pledged in open session on
April 14 that no four- or five-story buildings would go on the adjacent city-owned parcel.
R-A here honors that pledge. R-B does not. Erin Allison