HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-04-26 Public Comment - A. Kjellstom - Public Comment on Fowler Avenue Housing DevelopmentFrom:Axel Kjellstrom
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:contact@harvestcreekmt.org
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment on Fowler Avenue Housing Development
Date:Monday, May 4, 2026 4:09:47 PM
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I live at 1213 New Holland Drive and have been in this neighborhood for more than ten years. I go to City
Commission meetings. I read the staff reports. And what I see in the Fowler Housing Development proposal is aproject that was designed for a different city, on a different piece of land, and pushed forward without nearly enoughhonest engagement with the people who will live next to it.
The math alone should stop this. The parcel is 150 feet wide. After setbacks and road right-of-way, there are roughly30 feet left for actual structures. The City's response was to shrink the setbacks to 20 feet and run a single-lanealleyway along existing backyards. That alleyway dead-ends, which means ladder trucks can't reach most of theproposed units in an emergency. This isn't a density question at that point — it's a basic feasibility question.
Eighty-four units at 18 units per acre, priced between $450,000 and $650,000, is not affordable housing. That pricerange doesn't meet any standard definition of affordability, and the proposal lists no grants, no nonprofitpartnerships, no connection to HRDC or Trust Montana. Meanwhile, 160 acres of R-3 development is alreadyunderway at Baxter and Cottonwood. The city isn't short on high-density zoning. It's short on honest planning.
Traffic exits on Farmall and Caterpillar Streets — residential streets that were never designed to carry 168 cars aday. Nothing connects to Fowler Avenue itself, the arterial road that runs directly alongside the parcel. Overflowparking will land in Harvest Creek, and the covenants here can't be enforced against non-residents.
The City Commission agreed in January 2026 to a consensus-based engagement process with the Harvest CreekHOA. Phase 2 starts in mid-May. Pushing forward on zoning before that process produces anything real makes thecommitment worthless. I'm asking the Commission to honor it, scale the density back to something that fits this site,and keep all vehicle access on Fowler Avenue where it belongs.
Axel KjellstromSent from my iPad