HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-29-11 Rose Park Review, Rec. & Park BoardBozeman Recreation & Parks Advisory Board
P.O. Box 1230 · Bozeman, MT · 59771
Variance Request
PLANNER: Dave Skelton
FROM: Subdivision Review Committee
SUBJECT: Fellowship Baptist Church
Applicant is requesting a variance to remove the condition requiring construction of North 25th Ave.
REVIEWED ON: April 29, 2011
BACKGROUND:
The entire East boundary of the property borders Rose Park, a community park currently used primarily for disc golf. Rose Park was dedicated in 1995, prior to the UDO and PROST Plan.
As a result it has been developed and maintained by the City and it has only 19.5% street frontage. There is a 32 space paved parking lot on Tschache Lane. Applicant is proposing
a 10’ paved multi-use trail with landscaping (berm and trees) instead of building the road.
Development will be required to provide 215 parking spaces for the church.
COMMENTS:
While the city policy favors maximizing street frontage, the PROST Plan 8.8.1 page 8-11 points out reasons why this may not be desirable: safety, resource impacts, noise impacts, visual
impacts and aesthetics.
If that portion of the property north of the church were developed as residential, as has been proposed, it would be quite desirable to be able to satisfy their parkland dedication requirement
by adding to Rose Park. This would be impossible if 25th Avenue is built.
While the lack of street frontage along the west edge of Rose Park will make the park safer and more user friendly, the trail will also provide a safer and quieter bike and pedestrian
corridor than sidewalk and bike lanes along 25th. We feel the additional safety for bikers and pedestrians is particularly important given that the site is roughly two blocks from Emily
Dickenson Elementary School.
The completion of this stretch of 25th Avenue does not seem to be needed at all for automobile traffic.
Creation of more non-motorized connections would be a green and healthy addition to the city transportation scheme.
RECOMMENDATION:
The principle reasons for parks having street frontage requirements are parking, visibility of the park, access to the park, and the prevention of encroachment of private yards into
parkland. Referring to the policy statement on street frontage in the PROST Plan 8.8.2 on page 8-12, we feel that the applicant’s proposal would be in full compliance with city policy
if the following conditions were met:
The church grants a public access easement for their parking lot.
Signage is put up identifying the lot as Rose Park parking and access.
A 10’ paved multi-use trail is constructed to city specifications the length of the 25th Avenue easement, connecting Oak and Tschache.
A trail or trails are constructed connecting the parking lot with the 25th Avenue easement trail.
Berming and landscaping are installed identifying the boundary between church and park land.
Our committee is of the opinion that if these conditions are met, the proposed variance is not only acceptable but clearly preferable to the construction of 25th Avenue.