HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-26 Public Comment - R. Newman - Public Comment on Fowler Avenue Housing Development From: Becky Newman
To: Bozeman Public Comment
Cc: contact(nbharvestcreekmt.org
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Public Comment on Fowler Avenue Housing Development
Date: Tuesday,May 5,2026 5:46:22 AM
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My backyard on New Holland Drive sits DIRECTLY NEXT TO the parcel the City is
proposing to develop as high-density housing between Oak and Annie Streets. I want to be
straightforward with the Commission: the current proposal for up to 84 units at roughly 18
units per acre, with four- and five-story buildings, IS NOT APPROPRIATE for this location,
and the infrastructure math doesn't work.
Start with the parcel itself. It's 150 feet wide. After setbacks and road right-of-way, the
buildable footprint shrinks to something around 30 feet. The City has already floated reducing
setbacks to 20 feet and running a single-lane alleyway through the site. That alleyway dead-
ends in a way that would block emergency ladder trucks from reaching most units. This is a
real safety issue, not a hypothetical one.
Then there's traffic. The proposed entrances are on Farmall and Caterpillar Streets (WHICH I
LIVE ON-my children are out every day),which are residential roads. They were not
designed for 168 cars making daily trips. Fowler Avenue, the actual arterial road bordering the
parcel, has no planned access point for the development. That makes no sense. Overflow
parking will end up on Harvest Creek streets, and my neighbors and I have no enforcement
tools against non-residents under our covenants. Having excess parking on roads is
WXTREMELY DANGEROUS BECAUSE OF HOW DOFICULT IT IS FOR KIDS TO SEE
AND CROSS. THERE ARE CHILDREN EVERYWHERE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD.
My kids' school is already at capacity. These roads are already used by families walking and
biking to Emily Dickinson Elementary. Adding this density without a real traffic study and
without access from Fowler is asking existing residents to absorb the cost of a decision that
benefits no one who already lives here. The proposed units are priced between $450,000 and
$650,000, which is not affordable housing by any reasonable measure.
The City Commission agreed in January to a consensus-based engagement process with the
Harvest Creek HOA. That process is supposed to begin in mid-May. Rushing a zoning
decision before that process produces any results undermines the commitment the
Commission made. Please slow down, honor that agreement, and plan this development at a
density and height that the site and the neighborhood can actually absorb.
Rebecca Newman