HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-26 Public Comment - A. Polus - Public Comment on Fowler Avenue Housing Development From: Ann Polus
To: Bozeman Public Comment
Cc: contact(s0arvestcreekmt.ora
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Public Comment on Fowler Avenue Housing Development
Date: Tuesday,May 5,2026 9:39:11 AM
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I have family that backs up to that open field west of New Holland Drive.I have watched it through every season for
more than twenty years—the irrigation ditch running through it,the cottonwoods,the deer and foxes that still cut
through in the early morning.When the City bought that land in 2017,the purchase agreement committed to
preserving those trees,that open space,and that ditch.Now the proposal is 84 units,buildings four to five stories
tall,and parking running along the back fences of eighteen homeowners'properties.That is not preservation.That is
not even close.
The parcel is 150 feet wide.After setbacks and road right-of-way,the buildable space shrinks to roughly 30 feet.
The proposal already had to reduce setbacks to 20 feet just to make the math work at all,and the result is a single-
lane alleyway that dead-ends in a way that emergency ladder trucks cannot navigate.This is not a workable site for
84 units at 18 units per acre.The geometry does not support it.
The traffic plan makes it worse.There is no access from Fowler Avenue,the actual arterial road that borders the
parcel.Instead, 168 cars would route through Farmall and Caterpillar Streets,residential roads that were never
designed for that volume.My grandkids walk and bike those streets.The overflow will hit New Holland and spill
into Harvest Creek because the parking ratio of 1.67 spaces per unit assumes people don't store anything in their
garages.
The City Commission agreed in January 2026 to a consensus-based engagement process with the Harvest Creek
HOA.Phase 2 of that process starts mid-May.Approving separate zoning actions now,before that process produces
any results,breaks faith with the neighbors who accepted the Commission's invitation to participate in good faith.
The units being proposed at$450,000 to$650,000 are not affordable housing by any reasonable definition.There
are 160 acres already zoned for affordable R-3 development at Baxter and Cottonwood.This site calls for something
that fits—lower density,real setbacks,and a process that isn't already decided before the neighbors sit down at the
table.
Ann Polus
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