HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-26 Public Comment - J. Keller - Hanson Lane App 25775 Annexation and Zoning From: Jack Keller
To: Bozeman Public Comment
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Hanson Lane App 25775 Annexation and Zoning
Date: Tuesday,May 5,2026 11:52:05 AM
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Hi,
Hanson Lane Annexation
R-B zoning allows buildings up to 45 feet and more than 6 units per acre. Nothing in the
surrounding area comes close to that. The neighboring properties are R-1 and R-2 single-
family homes. The duplexes on the north side of Annie Street are one story. Rezoning this
parcel to R-B, while everything around it stays low-density, is textbook spot zoning, and
Montana courts have consistently disfavored it.
R-A zoning is the right call here. Under UDC 2025, R-A covers single-family through two-
family residences, caps heights at 40 feet, and allows enough housing diversity to satisfy the
Urban Neighborhood designation in the Bozeman Community Plan. BCP Goal N.1.11 calls
for "gradual and predictable density in developed areas over time." Jumping straight to R-B
next to built-out R-1 and R-2 blocks is neither gradual nor predictable.
I'm also worried about Annie Street itself. My kids walk that route to Emily Dickinson
Elementary. Once the Fowler Avenue Connector goes through and Annie Street becomes a
through connection to Oak Springs, without installed traffic calming, that street becomes a
cut-through. A roundabout without proper crosswalk infrastructure has already caused
problems elsewhere in Bozeman. No annexation should be approved before the City commits
to speed limits and physical traffic calming on Annie Street, with a pedestrian impact study on
record.
On April 14, 2026, Deputy Mayor Douglas Fischer and City Manager Chuck Winn publicly
pledged that no four- or five-story buildings would go on the adjacent City-owned parcel. The
Hanson Lane parcel faces the exact same development constraints. I'm asking the Commission
to hold the same standard here and deny R-B zoning in favor of R-A.
Fowler Housing Development
I bought my home in Harvest Creek a few years ago knowing what the neighborhood was a
low-density residential area with backyards, mature trees, and streets sized for the people who
live here. The Fowler Housing Development proposal, as currently described,would put up to
84 units in four- to five-story buildings on a parcel that is 150 feet wide, directly bordering 18
homeowners'backyards.
The math alone is disqualifying. Once you subtract the road right-of-way, setbacks, and
driveway space, roughly 30 feet remains for actual structures. The City has proposed reducing
setbacks to 20 feet and running a single-lane alleyway along the back of existing yards. That
alleyway would dead-end in ways that make most units unreachable by ladder trucks. Fifty
percent of the surface parking would run directly along those property lines. A six-foot fence
is not a buffer—it's a gesture.
Traffic is routed through Farmall and Caterpillar Streets, which are residential roads not
designed for 168 additional vehicles. There is no access planned from Fowler Avenue,which
is the arterial road the project is supposedly built around. I bike through that stretch regularly,
and I can say with confidence that Farmall and Caterpillar cannot absorb this volume safely,
particularly with children walking to school nearby. The added load will also hit New Holland
Street hard.
At$450,000 to $650,000 per unit, this is not affordable housing by any reasonable definition.
There are no grants mentioned, no nonprofit partners like HRDC or Trust Montana, and no
explanation for why 18 units per acre on a 150-foot-wide parcel is the right model for this
specific site rather than something closer to Bridger View—one and two stories, real
greenspace, real setbacks.
The City Commission committed in January 2026 to a consensus-based engagement process
with Harvest Creek HOA. Phase 2 of that process starts mid-May 2026. I'm asking the
Commission to honor that commitment and hold any zoning or development action on this
parcel until that process produces a genuine result.
Jack Keller